Yellow Jackets run away with HCAC outdoor championship

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The women's track and field team entered day two of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship with 56 points and up by 4.5 points over the second place team.  In the second day of competition the Yellow Jackets scored 129.5 points and erased any doubt who was the superior team in the HCAC.

DC was picked as the favorite coming into the outdoor season and proved that they were worthy as they beat the second place team by over 60 points.

Senior Kim Bingley (Ottawa, Ohio / Ottawa-Glandorf) led her team and the conference in points collected in the two days.  Her best individual result came in the 400-meter hurdles.  She broke her own school record in the event with a 1:03.91.  She finished second in the event.  Bingley also set a new personal record in the 100-meter hurdles.  She finished in third with a 15.30.

The Yellow Jackets saw a lot of points come their way in the hurdle events as Maggie Sarfino (Dayton, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont) and Brooke Lime (Defiance, Ohio / Defiance) also gained points in both hurdle events.  In the 100-meter hurdles, Lime finished with a 15.54 and Sarfino with a 16.17 to take fourth and fifth, respectively.  In the 400-meter hurdles Sarfino took fourth with a time of 1:06.91, which is her new personal record.  Lime took the six spot with a time of 1:07.34.

Bingley saw individual success in the high jump as well.  She finished in fifth place after clearing a height of 1.51 meters.  Fellow senior Kali George (East Palestine, Ohio / East Palestine) took second in the event when she jumped a height of 1.56 meters.

Bingley and George also teamed up with the freshmen duo of Sarfino and Micah Wilson (Mims, Fla. / Astronaut) in the 4x400-meter relay.  DC threatened to win the relay the whole race, but was outlasted and took second with a time of 4:08.74.

Wilson saw success in the sprints all day as she scored the most points of any freshman on the weekend.  She won the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash in spectacular fashion.  She edged second place in the 100 by .22 and finished with a 12.42.  Her winning distance in the 200-meter dash was even more than that.  With a time of 25.69, Wilson won by .52 in the event.

Joining Wilson in both of the short distance sprints was Bree Anderson (Huntertown, Ind. / Carroll).  She saw her best result in the 200-meter dash with a 27.60 and a seventh place finish.  She also finished in the eight spot in the 100 with a 13.51.

Also finishing in points for DC in the 200-meter dash was George with a fifth place finish.  Her time of 27.50 placed her in that spot.  She also sprinted well in the 400-meter dash.  George finished in fourth place with a time of 1:02.02.

George, Wilson and Anderson joined up with Waverly Weaks (Liberty Center, Ohio / Liberty Center) for one last sprinting race.  In the 4x100-meter relay race, the four Yellow Jackets finished in second place with a 49.97, just .04 off the pace.

Distance runner Eme Miller (Portland, Ind. / Jay County) continued her success for the Yellow Jackets.  She picked up two fourth place finishes on the day.  She took the fourth place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a 19:04.55, which puts her in third all-time in DC history in that event.  Miller also finished in the four spot with a 5:04.30 in the 1,500-meter run.

The Yellow Jackets saw no shortage of success in the field.  The most points coming in the long jump where Bingley, Weaks, and George all collected even more points to add to their totals.  Bingley finished in third place with a jump of five meters exactly.  Weaks and George followed in fourth place and sixth place, respectively.  Weaks jumped a 4.96 while George added a jump of 4.89 meters.

In the throws, Nikki Young (Van Wert, Ohio / Van Wert) picked a great time to have one of her best days in her career.  The senior set a personal record on Saturday in her last home meet ever.  In the hammer throw, Young set a personal best with a throw of 38.13 meters to claim seventh place.  She saw an even higher finish in the discus throw.  With a throw of 31.04 meters, Young took fourth in the event.

Sam Cook (Raiford, Fla. / Bradford County) added a second place finish in the discus throw for the Yellow Jackets.  With a throw of 36.05 meters, Cook took the runner-up spot.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets have won both the HCAC indoor and the outdoor titles this season.

DC will take next weekend off before picking things back up the following weekend.  On May 9 and 10, the Yellow Jackets will be in Naperville, Ill. to compete in the Dr. Keeler Invitational.