Westerville, OH. – It was a Friday night special for the Wheeling University Women's Track & Field team as they headed to the Otterbein Twilight Invitational. The action went well into Saturday morning, and the Cardinals wrapped up the regular season with a pair of top five finishes. Both those top five finishes came in the same event as the Cardinals competed in their final tune-up before the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was the Javelin event with Fenne Sienaert and Autumn Kerchner stepping into the runway. Leading the effort was Sienaert, who would finish fourth overall, throwing a distance of 35.69 meters. She would start the day strong, throwing a distance of 34.00 meters on her first throw, and it was enough to help advance her to the finals of the event. Her top throw would come on throw number five, where she hit her distance of 35.69 meters. She finished four metes behind Rio Grande's Taylor Bartrum for the top spot, and was just under three meters behind her PR in the event. Finishing one spot behind her was Autumn Kerchner, who took fourth with a distance of 32.48 Meters. Like Sienaert, she would qualify for the finals with a distance of 30.41 meters and hit her mark on the fourth throw of the day.

She would set a PR in the event, competing in what was the first of three events for Kerchner. She would add two more top 10 finishes on the day, competing in both the High Jump and the Discus Throw to round out the day. Up first was the High Jump, where Kerchner finished with a height of 1.52 meters, finishing ninth overall. It was .02 meters behind her PR in the event, and marked her fourth time competing in the event this season. She would end her day in the Discus Throw, where she was one of two Cardinals competing. She would hit a distance of 35.87 meters, finishing ninth in the event. She just missed the cut for finals, and hit her top throw on the last throw of the day. The final Cardinal to compete in the Javelin was JayLynn Shapley, who finished 10^th with a distance of 34.57 meters, setting a PR in the event.

On the track, the Cardinals would add their final top 10 finish courtesy of Jade Trowell in the 800-Meter Run. She would finish ninth with a time of 2:18.56, finishing just four seconds behind Wright State's Mia Wyngarden for the top spot in the field. She would finish with a PR in the event, dropping just under two seconds off her previous PR in the event. The top distance event of the day was the 3000-Meter Steeplechase, with Gabby Baiano leading the way. The senior would finish 16^th overall in the event, running a time of 12:52.37, with Luci Banks finishing three spots behind her in 19^th with a time of 13:55.45. The distance group rounded out in the Mile run, with Jezabella Cohen taking the field. The freshman would run a time of 8:00.13 to finish 39^th in the field.

The final top 20 finish of the day came in the pole vault, with Jenna Smith competing. Smith, who competed in her second event of the year, would finish 15^th with a height of 3.10 meters, going over the three meter mark for the second time this year. Rounding out the day was the 100-Meter Dash, with a pair of Cardinals running in the field. Nyja Short would take the top spot, finishing 37^th with a time of 13.93, while Rebekkah Merinar took 45^th at 19.18 seconds.

The Wheeling University Outdoor Track & Field team returns to action on Sunday, April 26^th, when they compete on day one of the MEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships with first events beginning at 11 AM.