ALLIANCE, Ohio — Sophomore #Kim Keesler (Chagrin Falls/Chagrin Falls)# won the Pole Vault with a NCAA automatic qualifying mark and sophomore #Mike Pankowski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills)# captured the Javelin Throw while also improving his NCAA provisional qualifying mark to highlight Marietta College's performance on day one of the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Outdoor Track and Field Championship Friday (April 30) at Mount Union College. [Results]

Mount Union leads the women's standings with 63 points. Baldwin-Wallace sits in second with 29 points, while Ohio Northern is in third with 29 points. Both Marietta and John Carroll are tied for fourth with 22 points. Heidelberg's men hold the day one lead with 42 points. Baldwin-Wallace is currently in second with 41 points, while Ohio Northern and Mount Union are locked in third place with 31 points. Marietta's men sit in seventh with 16 points.

Keesler became Marietta's first individual champion of the competition when she unleashed a winning vault of 3.86m (12-08.00). Her performance not only automatically qualified her for the 2010 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship, which will be hosted by Baldwin-Wallace May 27-29, but also set a new school and OAC Outdoor Championship record.

Pankowski captured his first OAC title with a top throw of 61.67m (202-04), which broke his own school record and also improved his chances of joining Keesler at the NCAA Championship. It was the second All-OAC performance for Pankowski in the event. He also took third place in the Javelin in 2006, which was his only other season of competition at Marietta.

Junior #Olivia Holiday (Malta/Morgan)# picked up three points for her squad with a sixth place finish in the Pole Vault. She cleared a season's best mark of 3.25m (10-08.00).

Sophomore #Ashley Bault (Atwater/Waterloo)# just missed out on All-OAC honors in the Long Jump when she placed fourth with a leap of 5.48m (17-11.75). Senior #Sidra Dhiraprassdhi# added another point in the event with her eighth place finish after finishing with a personal record mark of 5.15m (16-10.75).

The women's 4x800m Relay earned three points with a sixth place finish on Friday. Senior #Stephanie Williams (Vincent/Warren Local)#, sophomore #Danielle Staub (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet Regional)#, freshman Lydia Tilmaand# and senior #Logan Wern (North Canton/Hoover)# combined to run a season's best time of 10:09.35.

Marietta's men received a point from senior #Mike Siringer# when he placed eighth in the 10,000m Run. Siringer covered the distance in 34:08.04.

Senior #Cody Thomas (North Olmsted/North Olmsted)#, senior #Josh Mickle (Madison/Madison)#, freshman #Caleb Muller (Columbus/Bexley)# and freshman #Cody Strahler (Waterford/Waterford)# earned three points with a sixth place finish in the 4x800m Relay. The teammates crossed the line in season's best time of 7:56.54.

Senior #Chad Byers (New Matamoras/River)# collected two points for Marietta with his seventh place finish in the Discus Throw. Byers finished with a top mark of 45.30m (148-07).

Marietta had 10 women qualify in five total events during Friday's prelims.

Sophomores #Brittany Sims (Columbus/Eastmoor Academy)#, #Lauren Asbury (White Sulphur Springs, W.Va./Greenbrier East)# and Keesler all qualified in the 100m Dash. Sims posted the third fastest time in the event by crossing the line in a personal record 12.75 second. Asbury followed in 12.88 seconds and will be seeded fourth in the finals. Keesler also ran a personal record time, finishing in 13.10, which will seed her eighth on Saturday.

Asbury and senior #Christi Tims (Olmsted Township/Olmsted Falls)# both set new personal records while qualifying for the 200m Dash finals. Asbury posted the sixth fastest time (26.60 seconds) and Tims had the eighth fastest time (27.08 seconds) of the prelims.

Freshman #Kristeva Rowe# and Tims both advanced to the 400m Dash finals. Rowe earned the fourth seed in the finals with a preliminary time of 59.93. Tims ran a personal record 1:00.63 and will be seeded fifth on Saturday.

Asbury earned a trip to a third event final after posting the eighth best time in the 100m Hurdles. She finished the race in 16.18 seconds.

Sims and sophomore #Corryn Muench (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic)# both qualified for the finals in the 400m Hurdles. Sims crossed the line in 1:05.28, which will seed her second, while Muench finished in 1:07.67, which will seed her seventh.

The OAC Championship concludes on Saturday when finals for the remaining 30 events will be contested. Action begins at 10 a.m.