BEREA, Ohio — The Ohio Athletic Conference gathered as a group Saturday (Jan. 30) afternoon on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College for the 2010 OAC Relays. The Marietta College women matched their best place in meet history by accumulating 95 points and finishing third, while the Pioneer men placed ninth with 58 points. [Running Results] [Field Results]

Ohio Northern University swept the meet as its women racked up 104 points and its men totaled 101 points. The Heidelberg University women placed second with 96 points, while Otterbein College's men took runner-up with 98.50 points. The OAC Relays use the combination of a school's top two finishes in individual events to determine the amount of points awarded. Therefore, depth has a lot to do with the success of a team at this meet.

The Pioneer women, who also placed third at the OAC Relays a year ago, produced seven top three finishes on Saturday. The women's 4x200m Relay, which featured sophomore Lauren Asbury (White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Greenbrier East) senior Christi Tims (Olmsted Township, Olmsted Falls), sophomore Corryn Muench (Cold Spring, Ky., Newport Central Catholic) and freshman Kristeva Rowe (Toledo, Sylvania Southview), placed runner-up by combining for a season's best time of 1:49.96. The same women reconvened on the track near the conclusion of the competition and took third in the 4x400m Relay by crossing the line in 4:13.79, which was also their best race of the year to date.

Asbury and Tims also combined for a third place finish in the 55m Dash Relay. Asbury crossed the line in fifth with a time of 7.67 seconds, while Tims placed 10th with a time of 7.83 seconds.

Junior Stephanie Hammond (Toledo, Central Catholic) and freshman Jacci Weaver (North Lima, South Range) teamed up to take a pair of runner-up finishes in the Shot Put Relay and Weight Throw Relay. Weaver finished second as an individual in the Shot Put with a personal record toss of 11.77m (38-07.50), which was just .05m off the school record. She then tied for sixth in the Weight Throw with a mark of 12.44m (40-09.75). Hammond placed fifth in the Shot Put with a throw of 10.96m (35-11.50). Her mark was a new personal record and helped her surpass the OAC B Qualifying Standard in the event for the first time this season. She then took fourth in the Weight Throw with a toss of 12.44m (43-01.50).

Sophomore Kim Keesler (Chagrin Falls, Chagrin Falls) and juniorOlivia Holiday (Malta, Morgan) combined for Marietta's fourth runner-up finish with their performance in the Pole Vault Relay on Saturday. Keesler, who provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championship a week ago, cleared 3.50m (11-05.75) to place second as an individual, while Holiday tied for third after vaulting 3.05m (10-00.00). For Keesler, it was another NCAA Provisional mark, only slightly behind her 3.57m clearance during the Marietta Open #2.

Sophomore Ashley Bault (Atwater, Waterloo) and senior Sidra Dhiraprasiddhi (Hilliard, Darby) achieved the Pioneers' other third place finish with their combined marks in the Long Jump Relay. Bault, the school record holder in the event, placed third overall with a leap of 5.16m (16-11.25). Dhiraprasiddhi jumped 4.64m (15-02.75) and placed 11th.

Bault then carried the school colors alone in the Triple Jump Relay and set a school record with her second place finish overall, which translated into a fourth place finish for the team. Bault topped her own school record with a mark of 10.96m (35-11.50). She kept it going by tying for first place in the High Jump after clearing 1.50m (4-11.75).

Two other Marietta women set personal records and a third met the OAC B Qualifying Standard in an event on Saturday. Junior Mehgan Cline (Dublin, Coffman) ran a personal best time of 11:57.91 in the 3,000m Run Relay, while senior Stephanie Williams (Vincent, Warren Local) did the same with a time of 19:49.19 in the 5,000m Run Relay. Sophomore Jessica Gebhart (Eaton, Eaton), meanwhile, crossed the line in the 55m Hurdles Relay with a time of 9.33 seconds, which met the OAC B Qualifying Standard.

Marietta's men combined for four fourth place finishes at the OAC Relays. Senior Josh Mickle (Madison, Madison) and freshman Caleb Ellis (St. Albans, W.Va., St. Albans) both ran personal record times en route to a fourth place finish in the 3,000m Run Relay. Mickle finished fifth by crossing the line in 9:08.17, while Ellis was seventh and achieved an OAC B Qualifying Standard time of 9:14.25.

Freshman Caleb Muller (Columbus, Bexley) also met the OAC B Qualifying Standard for the first time this season in the 5,000m Run Relay. Muller, who placed eighth with a time of 15:57.81, and senior Michael Siringer (Willowick, Willoughby South), who took 15th with a time of 16:26.57, combined to finish fourth in the event.

Another fourth place finish came in the 55m Dash Relay as junior Matt Hickman (St. Mary's, W.Va., St. Mary's) finished third with a time of 6.61 seconds and freshman Willam McCulloch (Nelsonville, York) placed 18th with a time of 6.91 seconds.

Marietta's top finish in the field events came in the Shot Put Relay where senior Derek Carpenter (Belpre, Belpre) and senior Chad Byers (New Matamoras, River) combined to place fourth. Carpenter threw a mark of 13.55m (44-05.50) and placed eighth, while Byers threw a personal record 13.07m (42-10.75) and finished 10th.

Other highlights included Carpenter's personal record toss of 13.88m (45-06.50) in the Weight Throw Relay and season best leap of 12.02m (39-05.25) by sophomore James Vogt (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) in the Triple Jump Relay.

Marietta track and field is back in action on Friday (Feb. 5) afternoon when the Pioneers host their fourth home indoor meet of the season in conjunction with Winter Weekend. The Alumni Open is slated to begin inside the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center at 2 p.m. [Complete Schedule] It will be the final home meet of the season before Marietta host the 2010 OAC Indoor Championship Feb. 26-27.