Six Polar Bears to make trip to NCAA Div. III Indoor National Track & Field meet
By Caleb Scott
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ADA — Six members of the Ohio Northern men's and women's track & field team have qualified for the NCAA Div. III Indoor National Track and Field meet this weekend in Naperville, Ill. at North Central College (Ill.).
On the men's side, senior Lucas Shumate (Wapakoneta/Spencerville) and junior Matt Molinaro (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle) will represent Northern.
Shumate will compete in the men's weight throw and enters the meet with the seventh best throw nationally.
The senior set the mark, which is currently a school record, with a toss of 18.32 meters.
The men's weight throw is set for Friday, Mar. 10 at 3:30 pm CST.
Molinaro will compete 800-meter run for ONU and owns the fourth fastest time in the event in 1:52.62.
The prelims are set for Friday, Mar. 10 at 3:20 pm CST with the top-8 advancing to Saturday's finals.
On the women's side of the meet, senior Allie Gast (Grandville, Mich.) will represent ONU in the 60-meter hurdles.
Gast currently owns the school record and ran a career-fastest time of :8.93 seconds, which is good for the 12th fastest time in the country.
The senior will compete at 2:35 pm CST on Friday, Mar. 10 in the prelims of the event, with the top-8 advancing to Saturday's finals.
Senior Kelsey Commager (Maumee) will compete at the meet in the triple jump for the Polar Bears.
Commager owns the 13th farthest leap in the event with a jump of 11.61 meters and will compete on Saturday, Mar. 11 at 10 am CST.
Junior Emily Richards (Delaware/Hayes) will compete in two events at the meet as she owns the fastest time in the country in both the 800-meter run and the 1-mile run.
Richards' school record time of 2:08.83 in the 800-meter run is three seconds faster than the rest of the field, while her school record time of 4:50.11 is also three seconds faster than the field.
The junior will compete in the 800-meter run prelims on Mar. 10 at 3:05 pm CST with the top-8 competitors reaching the finals on Mar. 11, and will run the prelims for the 1-mile run on Mar. 10 at 1 pm CST.
Sophomore Maddy Reed (Lucasville/Piketon) will also represent Northern on the women's side of the meet in the pole vault.
Reed currently owns the second best height in the country and is one of only two competitors to clear 4.00 meters or better.
The sophomore will compete on Friday, Mar. 10 at 3 pm CST.