BOSTON, Mass. --- A trio from Bridgewater highlighted five ODAC athletes that qualified for finals in various events following the first day of competition at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston, Mass. The University of Boston-Massachusetts is serving as host for the two-day affair on March 8-9.
Six of the ODAC's seven qualifiers competed in six different track events in a jam-packed schedule on Friday. Five of those individuals qualified for their event's finals on Saturday. The lone ODAC athlete not to compete on Friday, Grant Amoateng from Eastern Mennonite, will particpant in the first of two championship flights in the men's triple jump on Saturday afternoon.
RELATED: Event Schedule and Results
Bridgewater's Calista Ariel was the first secure a spot in a Saturday final. Ariel, the ODAC's indoor 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter champion in addition to clipping the tape first in the conference cross country championships in the fall, will be one of 12 competitors in the national 3K finals. She finished 11th overall and sixth in her heat with a career-best time of 9:56.30., just 0.79-seconds short of tying the ODAC record. Emily Forner from Allegheny College is the top seed heading into the finals at 9:53.47.
RELATED: Women's 3,000-meter Results
Fellow Eagle Emily Valle was next to make her way to a Saturday final. Valle, who reset the conference overall and championship records in the 60-meter hurdles (8.89) on the way to being named ODAC Indoor Women's Track Athlete of the Meet last month, snapped her own mark yet again. She posted a time of 0:08.69 in the to place fifth of 20 competitors and secure one of eight positions in the finals. Favor Ezewuzie from Wheaton College (Ill.) is the top seed after posting a time of 0:08.53.
RELATED: Women's 60-meter Hurdles Results
A pair of ODAC stars each competed in both the women's and men's 60-yard dashes. Roanoke's Quinn Harlan, the national runner-up in the event in 2018, and Shenandoah's Shamyra Wilkerson took to the women's race. Harlan will again compete for a national crown as she finished second in her heat and seventh overall with a time of 0:07.70. Wilkerson was fourth in the same heat and tied for 13th overall at 0:07.774 as officials had to go to the film to sort thru three athletes at 0:07.78. Gabrielle Noland from Loras College is the top seed with a time of 0:07.50.
While Wilkerson came up a bit short in the 60-meter dash, she made sure to include herself in Saturday's action with a strong showing in the 200-meter dash. Wilkerson finished second in her heat and seventh overall with a personal-best time of 0:25.18. Loras' Noland will be the #1 seed in a second event as she posted the top time at 0:24.38.
RELATED: Women's 60-meter Dash Results | Women's 200-meter Dash Results
In the men's 60-meter dash, Bridgewater's Davonta Womack and Randolph College's Darren Petty competed in the 21-man field. Womack, the men's indoor track athlete of the meet from the ODAC Championships, won his heat and placed second overall with a career-best time of 0:06.802. Petty chimed in seventh in his heat and 20th overall with a time of 0:06.938.
Petty also took part in the men's 60-meter hurdles. The two-time ODAC champion in addition to ODAC overall and championship record-holder (8.23) in the event finished 18th overall at 0:08.41. Mount Union's Connor Troyer won the prelims at 0:08.07.
RELATED: Men's 60-meter Dash Results | Men's 60-meter Hurdles Results
Competition resumes on Saturday morning with track event finals and select field event finals, including the men's triple jump featuring EMU's Amoateng.