Wheeling, W. Va. - For the second time this season, the Wheeling University Women's Outdoor Track & Field team took on an event hosted by NCAA DI competition. The Cardinals traveled to the Cherry Blossom Invitational on Friday, and were led by a big day in the field events. Four of the Cardinals five top five finishes would come from the field, as the Cardinals started April strong.
Leading the effort was freshman Autumn Kerchner, who was the only Cardinal to compete in multiple events on the day. She would bring home the lone individual championship of the day, when she kicked things off in the Women's High Jump. She would take the title with a height of 1.52 meters, using her efficiency at the height to take home the win. She would pass on the first two heights of the night, and cleared 1.42 meters and 1.47 meters on her first jump each time. As she got to 1.52 meters, she would also clear the jump on the first try, earning her the individual event victory. She would kick-off her day with the Discus throw, where she finished sixth with a distance of 36.24 meters. She improved her distance each time she took the pit, saving her best throw for last when she hit the 36.24 meter mark to claim sixth in the field.
The other top five finish for the Cardinals came from the track with Luci Banks competing in the 3000-Meter Steeplechase. She would end up finishing fourth overall, running a time of 13:57.10 to finish third among NCAA DII competition. She ran consistently throughout the event, holding her fourth place spot throughout, and finished just 50 seconds behind the third place runner. It was her debut in the event on the collegiate stage, after competing in the 1500 Meter Steeplechase earlier this season at the Marty Pushkin Invitational, where she ran a time of 6:25.54. She kept her pacing the same with 1500 more meters added as she led the track events on the day.
Following Kerchner in the Discus was Amber Yoho, who finished one spot behind her, finishing 7th overall in the field. She would throw a distance of 33.62 meters, hitting the mark on her second attempt of the night and was a PR for the senior. Rounding out the event was JaLynn Shapley, who would finish 11th in the field with a distance of 28.06 meters in what would be the first of two events for Shapley. She came back in the Women's Shot Put, where she equaled her 11th place mark with a distance of 9.02 meters on her final throw of the day. The field events would wrap up with the Women's Long Jump, where Nyja Short finished ninth overall with a distance of 3.99 meters, hitting the mark on her first jump.
The track events would begin with the sprint events, with Rebekkah Merinar taking on the 100-Meter Dash. She would finish with a time of 19.77 seconds, finishing 20th overall in the event to start the day. The rest of the event would feature the distance runners, with the 1500 meter dash seeing Gabby Baiano and Jezabella Cohen competing. Baiano would take 35th overall with a time of 5:35.41 while Cohen finished in 40th at 7:22.69 seconds. Jade Trowell was up next in the 400-MEter Dash, finishing 11th overall at 1:01.55, and added a 21st place finish at 2:30.54. Kaitlyn Osorio would also make her Outdoor season debut in the event, running a time of 2:31.16 to finish one spot behind Trowell at 22nd. Rounding out the day was junior Madison Conrad, who finished 11th in the 5000 Meter Dash with a time of 21:07.04.
The Wheeling University Women's Outdoor Track & Field team returns to action on Friday, April 10th, when they compete at the Westminster Invitational.
