Bloom leads women's track & field in Day 1 of OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships

By: Monique Bowman

ALLIANCE — Junior Mallory Bloom (Kenton) won the 10,000-meter run Friday evening to lead the women's track & field team at the 2011 OAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Mount Union in Alliance.

After the first day of competition, the Polar Bears are in seventh place with 16 points. Leading the way is host Mount Union with 56 points, followed by Otterbein and Wilmington with 34 and 30 points respectively.

Bloom finished her race in 37:35.96, bettering her season-best time by a little over 20 seconds. Classmate Lauren Wood (Centerburg)earned a sixth-place finish in the same event, crossing the finish line in 39:58.06.

The 4x800 meter relay of senior Amanda Binkey (Latrobe, Pa.) and freshmen Lauren Avino (Bufflao, N.Y./Nardin), Kayti Kintner (Sunbury/Big Walnut) and Katie Klopp (Pickerington/North) placed sixth in 9:53.38.

In preliminary races, junior Ashley Sottoway (Findlay) qualified for Saturday's final heat of the 400-meter hurdles, finishing eighth in 1:10.27.

Also competing throughout the day was freshman Brittany Lang (Hebron/Lakewood) in the 400, placing 12th in 1:16.66. ClassmateHannah Livengood (Norwalk/St. Paul) finished 11th in the discuss (116-06) and 13th in the javelin (87-3).

Freshman Alyse Fitzpatrick (Green) represented the Polar Bears in the long jump (14-10.5), while freshman Raven McLure (Hudson)also competed in the discus (105-8). Junior Amanda Caudill (Hamilton/Fairfield) competed in the javelin hitting a mark of 74-2.

The OAC Championships conclude tomorrow (Saturday) in Alliance; the first event is slated for a 10 a.m. start