Indoor Track and Field season begins with four meets

The Marietta College Indoor Track and Field season is underway. The team has hosted three meets and traveled to one.The Marietta First Glimpse Meet snuck in before winter break on Dec. 5. This non-scoring meet gave competitors a glance of where they stood in their events and what competition would be like.

Ashley Bault finished third and broke the school record for the Triple Jump at 10.79 meters (35-05.00). Lauren Ashbury and Corryn Muench won the 55-meter and 400-meter dashes and set personal records of 7.66 seconds and 1:00.48, respectively. Danielle Staub and Josh Bibb grabbed first places in the women and men's 800-meter runs, while Jen Emmert and Josh Mickle won the women and men's 3,000-meter runs.

After a month-long break, the team hosted the first Marietta Open Meet on Jan. 16. The women finished second while the men attained third place. Kim Keesler placed first in pole vaulting, breaking her previous record of jumping 3.36 meters (11-00.25). Staub dominated the 800-meter run again, setting a personal best of 2:33.97.

Matt Hickman also set a personal record, winning his prelim of the 55-meter dash at 6.55 seconds. Hickman went on to place second in the finals at 6.56 seconds. Derek Carpenter and Bryn Perkey had two more first place finishes with Carpenter's shot put throw and Perkey's 1,000-meter run.

The second Marietta Open Meet was held Jan. 23 where the women finished second and the men fifth. Keesler's continued reign and new record of 3.57 meters (11-08.50) in the Pole Vault pit, Olivia Holiday's third place and Chyrsten Regelski's fourth place vaults and Bault's first place leap of 5.04 meters (16-06.50) in the Long Jump all met the A Qualifying Standard for the OAC Indoor Championship.

Muench and Staub took over the 500-meter run with first and second place finishes. Their times of 1:24.00 and 1:26.00 allowed both women to meet the B Qualifying Standard. Caleb Muller also met the B Standard with a time of 9:07.00 in the 3,000-meter run.

Emmert anticipates competing in the OAC Indoor Championships.

"I'm looking forward to the OAC Championships at the end of February because of its portrayal of everyone's hard work. This is the meet where all the teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference come together and compete to prove just how hard they've worked this season. The competitiveness is superior, and it's a great opportunity to PR and gain points for your teams," she said.

This past Saturday, the team hit the road for the OAC Relays at Baldwin-Wallace College. The women placed third while the men grabbed ninth place.

Keesler finished second in the pole vault relay while Holiday grabbed third. Bault's jumps landed her a first place finish in the high jump relay, second in the triple jump relay and third in the long jump relay. Jacci Weaver threw second place in the shot put relay, while Stephanie Hammond took fourth in the weight throw.

Hickman raced to third in the 55-meter dash relay while Mickle came in fifth in the 3,000-meter run. Carpenter threw eighth in the Shot Put Relay and sixth in the Weight Throw.

The team will next host the Marietta Alumni Meet on Feb. 5 at 2 p.m.