MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Oklahoma Baptist women's track and field team claimed its third consecutive Great American Conference Outdoor Championship after racking up 208.5 points at the three-day meet to top the leaderboard of the 10-team competition.
OBU posted five conference records and six wins, while head coach Brian Whitlock was named Coach of the Year for the first time in his career. It is the fourth conference championship in program history.
Sophia Strange added a win in the 5,000-meter race to complete her dominating week at the event. She clocked a 17:37.27, which broke the GAC meet record and facility mark. Strange also won the 10,000-meter run with a record-breaking time of 36.29.22.
Shayna Hendrix broke the facility, and GAC meet records in the 800m, outlasting her competitors with a winning time of 2:12.80. It's the first individual win in her career.
Mekenzie Connell registered a third-place finish at 2:13.69 before adding another third-place nod in the 1500m (4:39.15).
Delaney Riekert ran a career-best 55.86 in the 400m, which placed second and met the NCAA DII provisional standard.
Kelechi Christian won the 200m in 24.30 and was OBU's highest finisher (3rd) in the 100m (11.99). Olivia Tate matched Christian's time in the 100m and collected a fourth-place recognition in the 200m (24.77).
Elisabeth Jones placed second in the 100m hurdles at 14.59, ahead of Kyndall Hicks' time of 14.82.
The 4x100 relay squad of Christian, Riekert, De'ja Rose, and Tate set a new meet and facility with their 45.80 finish. It earned a provisional and ranks 25th in DII.
The quartet of Christian, Kimberly McKinney, Hendrix, and Riekert turned in a second-place finish in the 4x400 with a time of 3:49.36.
Flora Dupans broke school records in both the discus and shot put. Her winning heave of 50.18m (164-7) in the discus also broke the GAC and facility records. Additionally, the action earned a provisional and ranks third in Division II.
In the shot put, Dupans placed second after reaching 14.21m (46-7.5) to break Paige Kannady's OBU record (14.01m; 45-11.75) set in 2015.
Jade Byrd posted the second-best hurl in the discus (46.37m; 152-1), which also met the DII provisional standard.
Anisha Henderson's leap of 5.63m (18-5.75) in the long jump took second, while Jamora Horace placed third in the high jump with a clearance of 1.66m (5-5.75).
Rounding out the notables was Payton Hufford's fourth-place finish in the pole vault (3.13m; 10-3.25).
In addition to their athletic achievements, Jade Robinson was honored as an Elite Scholar Scholar-Athlete, while four others were named Distinguished Scholas. The latter include Jade Byrd, Kaylen King, Sophia Strange, and Zoee Weaver.
