AKRON, Ohio – Ohio junior Kari Summers (Troy, Ohio) won the 10,000 meters and senior Susan Plungis (Great Barrington, Mass.) took second in the javelin to land the Bobcats in second place after four scored events on day one of the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The host Akron Zips hold the lead over the 12-team field, as they try to win their fifth-consecutive team title.
Along with Summers, who paced the field with a time of 35:39.67, junior Annie Beecham (Granville, Ohio) nabbed third in the 10,000, while freshman Kristen Altenburger (Troy, Ohio) finished 16th. In the javelin, Plungis’ season-best throw of 146 feet, two inches qualified her for the NCAA Regionals, the sixth Bobcat to make the meet. Senior Jessie Tanner (Newark, Ohio) also placed in the javelin, finishing eighth with a toss of 132 feet, six inches.
Both Bobcats in the hammer throw earned points, as junior Emily Amendola (Beach City, Ohio) placed fifth for the second-straight year with a throw of 178 feet, two inches, and Tanner took sixth with her season-best mark of 171 feet, 10 inches. Amendola has already qualified for the NCAA Regionals in the event with a school-record distance of 186 feet, four inches.
In the pole vault, junior Christen Bosch (Rockbridge, Ohio) matched her season-best height, clearing the bar at 11 feet, seven and three-quarter inches for a ninth-place finish. Kasey Stepp (Hilliard, Ohio), also a junior, tied for 12th in the event, turning in her best performance of the season with a height of 11 feet, one and three-quarter inches.
