1st of 8 at NCAC championship

May 1-2, 2009

Junior Sharon Rymut (Broadview Heights/Brecksville-Broadview Heights) and sophomore Lainey Kekic (Canfield/Western Reserve) won 2 North Coast Athletic Conference titles apiece to lead Ohio Wesleyan to the team title at the NCAC championship meet, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan on Friday and Saturday at Selby Field and the George Gauthier Track.

Ohio Wesleyan won the meet with 225 points to 134 for runner-up Oberlin. Allegheny finished third with 108 points, followed by Wittenberg (90 1/2), Wooster (85 1/2), Denison (83), Earlham (72), and Kenyon (18).

The championship was the second in 3 years for the Bishops, who won the 2007 crown before finishing second last year.

Rymut was named Field Event Performer of the Year. She won her third consecutive conference crown in the discus, turning in a throw of 118-0. She also won the hammer with a throw of 134-6, helping Ohio Wesleyan sweep the top 4 places in that event. Rymut also placed fourth in the shot put.

Rymut is pictured at right with Dennis Collins, executive director of the NCAC, and Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University.

Kekic won the 200-meter dash in a time of :26.32 and won the long jump with a leap of 16-3 1/4. She also won all-conference honors with a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash and a third-place finish in the heptathlon, and added a fifth in the high jump and a sixth in the triple jump. Overall, Kekic placed in an astounding 8 events, also combining with sophomore Rowena Jones (Shutesbury, Mass./Amherst Regional), sophomore Rachael Newman (Strongsville), and junior Sarah Shinn (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) to win All-NCAC honors with a second-place finish in the 1600-meter relay; and teaming with Jones, sophomore Christa Cocumelli (Dublin/Bishop Watterson), and junior Ashlie Britton (LeRoy/Painesville Riverside) for a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter relay.

Sophomore Kat Zimmerly (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane) also successfully defended an NCAC championship, winning the 3000-meter steeplechase in 11:44.02 for her second straight title in that event.

Also winning NCAC championships were freshman Hannah Phlipot (Van Wert), who won the shot put with a throw of 40- 1/2 and added a fourth in the javelin; and freshman Chelsea Imm (Glandorf/Ottawa-Glandorf), who won the pole vault by clearing 10- 1/2.

All-NCAC honors also went to senior Jessica Merrill (Columbia Station/Columbia), who finished second in the high jump and third in the triple jump, and added a fourth in the heptathlon, a sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and a seventh in the javelin; Cocumelli, who was second in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles; freshman Sam Smyth (Falmouth, Maine), who finished second in the hammer and third in the shot put; Shinn, who finished second in the 800-meter run and fourth in the long jump; freshman Emma Lisull (Ann Arbor, Mich./Greenhills), who placed second in the 3000-meter steeplechase; and sophomore Audra Pohlman (Delaware/Hayes), who was third in the hammer.

Other standouts for the Bishops included freshman Rachel King (Cuyahoga Falls), who finished fourth in the hammer and eighth in the discus; Newman, who was fourth in the 800-meter run; Britton, who was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles and seventh in the 400-meter hurdles; Jones, who placed fifth in the 400-meter dash and seventh in the 200-meter dash; junior Claire Everhart (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane), who finished fifth in the 400-meter hurdles; sophomore Chardae Spencer (Willowick/Eastlake North), who placed seventh in the triple jump; and senior Leah Schmelzer (Marion/Pleasant), who was eighth in the 10,000-meter run.

Sprinter/Hurdler
of the Year
Madeline Schultz, Oberlin

Middle Distance/Distance Runner of the Year
Katie Navarre, Denison

Field Event Performer
of the Year
Sharon Rymut, Ohio Wesleyan

Coach of the Year
Kris Boey, Ohio Wesleyan

Final Results