MARIETTA, Ohio — Led by another strong effort from sophomore Ashley Bault (Atwater, Waterloo), the Marietta College women sit in fourth place with 20 points after the first day of competition Friday (Feb. 26) at the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Indoor Track & Field Championship, hosted by Marietta College inside the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center. The Pioneer men, behind a great performance from their Distance Medley Relay, have collected eight points and sit in tenth. [Championship Site] [Men's Results] [Women's Results]

2009 champion Ohio Northern holds the team lead in the women's competition with 39 points after day one. Mount Union sits in second with 27 points, Baldwin-Wallace is in third with 21 points and Marietta sits fourth with 20 points. Otterbein (14), Heidelberg (12), Wilmington (12), John Carroll (10) and Capital (1) round out fifth through tenth after four events.

Defending champion Ohio Northern holds the lead in the men's competition with 38 points. Heidelberg is second with 31 points, Capital sits third with 22 points, Mount Union is fourth with 19.5 points and Otterbein sits fifth with 18.5 points. John Carroll (17), Wilmington (16), Muskingum (14), Baldwin-Wallace (11) and Marietta (8) are ranked sixth through 10th, respectively, after five events.

Bault earned All-OAC honors with a runner-up finish in the Long Jump. The jumps specialist, who earlier this season provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championship in the event, posted a top mark of 5.34m (17-06.25) on her second attempt of the competition. The performance tied her own school record. Bault then added a fourth place finish in the High Jump and matched her personal record with a mark of 1.55m (5-01.00).

Sophomore Kim Keesler (Chagrin Falls, Chagrin Falls) and senior Sidra Dhiraprasiddhi (Hilliard, Darby) also competed and set new personal records in the Long Jump. Keesler placed fifth with a jump of 5.15m (16-10.75), while Dhiraprasiddi finished 10th with a leap of 4.89m (16-00.50).

The Women's Distance Medley Relay, which consisted of sophomore Danielle Staub (Boxford, Mass., Masconomet Regional), senior Brenda Puckett (Eaton, Preble Shawnee), senior Logan Wern (North Canton, Hoover) and senior Shannon McDonald (Lorain, Amherst Steele), ran to a sixth place finish after running a season's best time of 13:23.08.

Senior Cody Thomas (North Olmsted, North Olmsted), sophomore Josh Bibb (Marietta, Marietta), sophomore Terrance Wallace (Westerville, Westerville Central) and senior Josh Mickle (Madison, Madison) ran to a second place finish in the Distance Medley Relay. The Pioneers crossed the line in a school record time of 19:30.79.

Freshman Caleb Ellis (St. Albans, W.Va., St. Albans) competed in the 3,000m Run and took 11th after crossing the line in a personal record time of 9:06.59.

Head Coach Derek Stanley's Marietta squad also had nine student-athletes qualify for Saturday's finals.

Freshman Kristeva Rowe (Toledo, Sylvania Southview) finished third in the prelims and qualified to the finals of the 500m Run with a personal record time of 1:22.04.

Senior Christi Tims (Olmsted Township, Olmsted Falls) and sophomore Corryn Muench (Cold Spring, Ky., Newport Central Catholic) both advanced to the finals of the 400m Dash. Tims finished her prelim with a personal record time of 1:00.99, while Muench ran a time of 1:02.11. Tims ranked third and Muench fourth among the qualifiers.

Sophomores Jessica Gebhart (Eaton, Eaton) and Lauren Asbury (White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., Greenbrier East) both qualified for the finals in the 55m Hurdles. Gebhart crossed the line in a school record 9.03 seconds, while Asbury followed in 9.16 seconds to rank seventh and ninth, respectively.

Asbury and Keesler gave the Pioneers two qualifiers in the 55m Dash after Asbury took fifth in the prelims with a personal record time of 7.48 seconds and Keesler crossed ninth with a time of 7.69 seconds.

Asbury and Tims both competed in the preliminaries of the 200m Dash. Asbury set a new school record after crossing the line in 27.12 seconds to earn the ninth and final qualifying spot. Tims tied her previous school record by covering the lap in 27.17 seconds but just missed a spot in the finals.

Sophomore Matt Hickman (St. Mary's, W.Va., St. Mary's), the top seed in the 55m Dash, advanced to the finals after crossing the line with the third-best preliminary time of 6.60 seconds. Hickman also earned a spot in the finals in the 200m Dash after running a preliminary time of 22.98, which ranked sixth among the qualifiers.

The two-day championships conclude on Saturday when 29 more OAC Champions will be crowned. Action begins with the Women's Pole Vault, Women's Triple Jump and Women's Shot Put at 10 a.m. The meet is expected to wrap up following the 4x400m Relays at 5:30 p.m.