Akron, OH. – After opening the 2025 portion of their schedule last week, the Wheeling University Women's Indoor Track & Field team was back at it Friday night. They competed in their first full team event of the new calendar year, making the trip to the Al Campbell Invitational, hosted by the University of Akron. It was a big day for the Cardinal field events, as they paced the effort with two top five finishes on the day.

Leading the pack was the pole vault duo of Keala McCurry and Jenna Smith, who each brought home top 10 finishes on the day. After Smith narrowly edged out McCurry last time out, it was McCurry's time to shine this time around. The graduate student would take sixth overall at the event, reaching a height of 3.23 meters, putting her just .02 meters behind her top flight of the season. She was the top Division II flyer on the day, and cleared the 3.20 meter mark for the third straight event. Finishing two spots behind her was her own teammate Smith, who would reach a height of 3.08 meters on the day. She needed just one try to clear the mark, but was unable to get over the 3.23 meter bar to round out her day. McCurry and Smith hold the #1 and #2 spots in the event respectfully and each look to continue their success throughout the season.

The field events would see two more competitors as Tara Perry took on the Women's High Jump and. Ashleigh Alston handled the Women's Shot Put. Perry was up first in the High Jump and took 15^th overall, to pick up the team's final top 15 finish. She reached a height of 1.50 Meters to take 13^th overall and second among NCAA DII competitors at the event. The final field athlete for the Cardinals was Alston, who took on the Women's Shot Put. It was her first time competing this season and she finished 29^th with a distance of 9.40 Meters. The rest of the action would come in the track for the Cardinals as the sprinters took the driver's seat.

The day began with the 60-Meter Dash as Deja Ryals took the the starting blocks. The graduate student ran a time of 8.14 to finish 19^th in the field, but knocked .04 seconds off her fastest time of the season. The Cardinal's other graduate student, Bre' ya Clopper would be next in the 400-Meter Dash and took 26^th with a time of 1:06.07. The final track event of the day for the Cardinals was the 200-Meter Dash with three Cardinals competing. Ryals led the way, taking 23td with a time of 26.95, while Clopper took 31^st (28.48).

The Wheeling University Women's Indoor Track & Field team returns to action on Saturday, September 25^th, when they take on the SPIRE Midwest Classic.