Westerville, OH. - The outdoor track & field regular season came to an end on Friday, with the Wheeling University Women's Outdoor Track & Field team heading to the Otterbein Twilight. With a young team in tow, the Cardinals have been looking to their senior leadership to lead the way and they did just that in the team's final tune-up before the 2025 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Cardinals had four top 10 finishes on the day, with the senior group bringing home three of those top 10 finishes.
Leading the way was graduate student Keala McCurry, who got it done for the Cardinals both on the track and in the field. Her day would kick-off in the track events, where she made her season debut in the Women's 400-Meter Hurdles. It was a strong showing for the Graduate Student, who was able to grab a third place finish in the field, running a time of 1:07.03. McCurry competed in the event for the first time in her five-year career with the Cardinals and had a strong debut in the track. Her success would continue in the field events, as she added her second PR of the day in the field events. She took on the Women's Pole Vault and reached a height of 3.74 meters to take 5th in the field. It beat her previous PR by .14 meters as she was able to lead the Cardinals throughout the day.
The success would continue in the field events with Avonikah Salas taking on the Women's Javelin for the second time this season. Salas would end up taking seventh in the event, reaching a distance of 28.79 meters, adding just under three meters to her throw from her debut in the event. The throwers would continue their day, competing in both the Hammer Throw and Discus throw with two different athletes. Mariah Pelkey would kick things off in the Hammer Throw, taking 19th in the field with a distance of 29.98 meters, while Amber Yoho was in the discus, finishing 20th at 28.45 meters. The final competitor in the field events was Courtney Hurst, who joined McCurry in the Women's Pole Vault. She would also hit a PR in the event, reaching a height of 3.19 meters to finish 14th in the field.
The final top 10 finish would come courtesy of senior Shannon Farrow on the track as she took on the 100-Meter Dash. For the third straight event, the senior would finish with a PR, running a time of 12.60 seconds to finish 10th in the field. It was another big PR for the seniors, breaking her previous mark by .12 seconds and she missed qualifying for the finals by just two spots. She would continue her day later in the afternoon, taking on the 200-Meter Dash, where she added an 18th place finish to round things out with a time of 26.55, finishing .18 seconds shy of her PR. The other sprinter for the Cardinals was Gianna Bjorn, who tackled the 100-Meter Dash, and took 47th with a time of 15.05 seconds.
The final two track events would come from the distance runners with Gabby Baiano tackling the 3000-Meter Steeplechase and Sophia Tomana running in the Mile. Both would be competing in their respective events for the first time this season, with Baiano leading the way. She finished 13th overall with a time of 13:05.29, putting together a strong start in the event. Tomana made her outdoor season debut for the Cardinals, competing in the Mile, and took 27th overall with a time of 6:34.75 to lead the distance group.
The Wheeling University Women's Outdoor Track & Field team returns to action on Sunday, April 27th, when they compete on day one of the 2025 MEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
