Ohio finished fourth in the Marshall Women’s Classic in Huntington, West Virginia, on Saturday. It was the Bobcats first meet in nearly a month.
The Bobcats improved their overall score by six points from their first meet a month ago, recording 70.5 points in 14 events. The Bobcats have now placed in the middle of both of their meets this season. They also finished second out of three teams at the Marshall Opener on Dec. 7.
Unlike their tri-meet a month ago, the Bobcats had more competition on Saturday as six other teams competed at the Chris Cline Indoor Complex. Host school Marshall placed first — the Thundering Herd also finished first at the Marshall Opener. The Bobcats finished behind Duquesne and James Madison and ahead of Wright State, Cleveland State and Morehead State.
The throwing unit once again got Ohio off to a quick start. Gaza Odunaiya earned her second first place finish of the indoor season in the weight throw, throwing for 18.81 meters — a new school record — and giving the Bobcats ten points. After Abby Moore placed fourth and Emma Russ and Autumn Mohan placed seventh and eighth respectively, the Bobcats had an additional eight points and led the meet as the first event concluded.
The running unit continued to tack on points for the Bobcats. First to contribute was Abby Summers, whose seventh place finish in the 60-meter dash earned Ohio two points. As the five field events came to a close, Ohio was in fourth with a total of 34.5 points.
Ashleigh Carr picked up the second individual Bobcat victory of the day in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.8 seconds. This was her second individual victory of the indoor season as she placed first in the 600-meter dash at the Marshall Opener. The win added ten points to the Bobcats total, while Emily Deering’s seventh place finish provided an additional two points.
Melissa Koziol and Madison Sury provided sparks by placing third and fifth in the mile run. Koziol’s placement provided six points to the Bobcats’ total while Sury’s added four.
Sury and new teammate Stephanie Pierce finished sixth and seventh in the 800-meter run, both times just slightly over 2:20. This was Pierce’s first time placing at a meet.
The Bobcats did not compete in pole vault, triple jump and 60-meter hurdles.
Ohio will hit the road Friday to travel to Youngstown State to compete in the YSU Invitational.
