By Gary Petit
Noe is making her first NCAA Championship appearance. She won her first OAC title in 400-meter hurdles this spring and was also part of the OAC winning 4x400-meter relay team.
ADA Ohio Northern senior Ryan Robertson (Pickerington/Central) and juniors Jimmy O’Brien (Pemberville/Eastwood) and Dani Noe (Woodville/Woodmore) have all earned a bid to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships on May 22-24 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Noe ran her two best races of the season the past two weeks at North Central (Ill.) and is coming into the championship with the 16th best time of 1:03.07.
O’Brien is making his third consecutive trip to the outdoor championships and his fifth championship overall. He will try to become the first Polar Bear to win two titles in the same season as he enters with the top time in both the 800- and 1,500-meter runs. He has the best time by almost 2 seconds in each event.
He set the school record in both events this season and his time of 1:48.45 in the 800-meter run at the Oregon Twilight Meet on May 9 qualified him for the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer. His time was also the fifth-fastest time in Division III history.