The Baldwin Wallace University women’s track and field team has put together a very hot start to their 2019 indoor portion of their schedule.

On Jan. 19, the team competed in the Dave Lehman Open in Westerville, Ohio and finished tied for first with the host team, Otterbein. During the meet, junior Kelly Brennan posted a school-record in the 5,000-meter run, posting a time of 17:26.35. Another top performer for the Yellow Jackets was senior Grace Nemeth after she earned a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.16 in the finals. The last BW first-place finish was earned by senior Jessica Edwards in the triple jump with a final jump of 10 mm.

Other notable performances for the Jackets include freshman Amanda Milo, who posted a runner-up finish in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.16. In relay action, the team of senior Rachel Bender, Milo, Nemeth and sophomore Ky’leana Allen earned a third-place finish in the 4×200 relay and a second-place finish in the 4×400 event.

In their latest action, the Yellow Jackets welcomed five opponents to Berea as they hosted the Dr. William Taraschke Team Challenge. Otterbein University won the meet with 199 points while the Yellow Jackets finished as the runner-up with 136 points.

Buckhannon finished in first place with a distance of 15.47m in the weight throw and also registered a shot put throw of 12.41 m, good for a fourth-place finish. The Yellow Jackets had the top two performers in the 3,000-meter run with Brennan earning the top spot with a time of 10:24.73. Junior Bella Pendola finished right behind her, posting a time of 10:31.11.

Other notable performers for BW again include Edwards, Nemeth, Milo and Allen. Edwards continued to build on her good start as she finished in third-place in the triple jump with a distance of 9.98m. After finishing first in the prelims, Nemeth registered a time of 7.46 in the 55-meter dash to give her a third-place finish in the event. After posting the best prelim time in the 55-meter hurdles, Milo was able to walk away finishing as the runner-up in the event with a time of 8.55. Allen continued her hot start in in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:03.02, good for a second-place finish.

In relay action, the distance medley relay team consisting of junior Katie Fowler, sophomore Rebecca Penrose, freshman Natalie Vinci and sophomore Hastings Marek beat all other teams in the event after registering a time of 13:07.64.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 1-2 as the team travels to Hillsdale, Mich. to compete in the Hillsdale “Wide Track” Open. On Feb. 8, the team will host its last indoor meet at the Lou Higgins Center Fieldhouse during the Mid-February Event. The All-Ohio Athletic Conference Indoor Championships will take place on Feb. 22-23 at Ohio Northern University.