Morgantown, W. Va. - After the throwers started the event strong on Friday, the field events continued to carry the torch into day two of the Marty Pushkin Invitational. Two more top five finishes came from the field events, as the entire Women's team headed to Mylan Park to start the outdoor portion of the season. It was the jumpers and throwers that led the way in day two, rounding out a strong open to the outdoor track & field season for the field events.
Leading the effort was freshman Autumn King, who is coming fresh off her All-MEC performance at the Indoor Mountain East Conference (MEC) Track & Field Championships. She would once again compete in the High Jump, and finished just .01 meters shy of that All-Conference performance. She reached a height of 1.59 meters to finish third overall and first among the NCAA DII competition in the field. She started her day at 1.50 meters, and cleared that mark on her first jump of the day. She duplicated her performance at 1.53 meters, and needed two jumps to cross the 1.56 meter mark. She would come back for the 1.59 meter mark and once again needed two tries before clearing the bar. She would be one of three competitors to compete at the 1.62 meter mark, but would end up falling just short to round out the day. Autumn Kerchner would also compete in the event, and finished eighth overall with a height of 1.50 meters.
Kerchner would also be the second Cardinal top five finisher of the day, with her biggest success coming in the discus throw. She would compete in the event for the first time in her collegiate career, throwing a distance of 34.94 meters. She would foul on two of her first three throws on the day, before hitting 28.22 meters on throw four. Her top mark would come on her fourth throw of the day as she claimed the fourth place spot. She was the top Division II competitior in the field, and finished just under six meters behind the top spot in the field. The other top 10 finish in the field events would also come in the discus, with Jalynn Shapley finishing ninth with a distance of 29.47 meters to take ninth in her collegiate debut. Amber Yoho would round out the discus, finishing 18th with a distance of 25.68 meters.
The track events would kick-off with the sprinters as Rebekkah Merinar took the track for the 100-Meter Dash. She got things started with a 28th place finish, running a time of 19.97 to start the day for the sprinters. Fenne Sienaert was up next, taking on the 100-Merer Hurdles, after winning the javelin championship on day one, and added 14th place finish to her award list with a time of 18.24. As the mid-distance events took off, Jade Trowell would line up for the 400-Meter Dash and finished 11th with a time of 1:01.73. The track events would round out with the 1500 Meter run and the 1500 Meter Steeplechase. Freshman Luci Banks would lead the way, taking ninth in the steeplechase with a time of 6:25.54, while Madison Conrad took the top spot in the 1500, taking 18th with a time of 5:09.05. The event would round out with Gabby Baiano finishing 44th with a time of 5:38.25.
The lone day two field event for the Cardinals was the Women's Shot Put, with Shapley and Amber Yoho taking the circle. Shapley would lead the way, taking 11th with a distance of 9.36 meters, while Yoho finished 15th with a distance of 8.72 meters.
The Wheeling Women's Track & Field team returns to action on Friday, March 27th, when they compete at the Tim Weaver Invitational.
