BEXLEY — For the second consecutive season, senior Emily Richards (Delaware/Hayes) was dubbed the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Distance Runner of the Year as she led the No. 9-ranked Ohio Northern women's track and field team to a second place finish at the 2018 Indoor OAC Championships in Bexley.
The Polar Bears move to 37-13 on the season with the second place finish.
Otterbein claimed the women's title with 144 points, while John Carroll rounded out the top-3 with 121 points.
For the second consecutive year, Richards won three individual events at the championships to lead the way for ONU. She was also a part of Northern's OAC Champion 4x400-meter relay team.
The senior set a new OAC record in the 1,000-meter run as she raced to first place in 2:54.44.
Richards would also claim the OAC title in the 800-meter run in 2:18.60, before winning the 1-mile run in 4:58.15.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Richards, juniors Taylor Fisher (Wapakoneta) and Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) and sophomore Taylor Lavey (New Baltimore, Mich./Findlay) also claimed in OAC title in the event, finishing first in 3:59.91.
In the 60-meter dash, Lavey earned All-Conference honors and bettered the school record mark she tied on day one of the meet, finishing third in :7.92 and claiming the school record.
Lavey would continue to impress, earning All-OAC honors in the 200-meter dash after finishing third in :26.20.
After posting the fourth fastest time in the preliminaries in the 500-meter dash, Ewing claimed the OAC title in the event, finishing first in 1:20.00, while Fisher was eighth in the event in 1:21.08.
Junior distance runner Ashlie Baumann (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) earned her second All-OAC nod of the weekend after finishing third in the 3,000-meter run in 10:19.45.
Freshman Stella DeWitt (Weston/Cardinal Stritch Catholic) also garnered her second All-OAC honor of the championships after finishing third in the triple jump with a leap of 35' 6".
In the shot put, junior Tia Harris (Newton Falls) posted a top-4 finish in the event, finishing fourth with a throw of 41' 2.25".
Northern returns to action next weekend as it hosts the Polar Bear last chance meet on Mar. 2-3 at the Kinghorn Fieldhouse.
