Track & Field 2k22: Miami University Preview

Yes it is early, but we are kicking off the "Track & Field 2k22" season. The theme of the season is "Rise of the Woman." The meaning of the theme is that it is simply time. It is time for women's sports to have a serious space in the minds of sports fans. We are not comparing women's sports to men's sports. Women's sports are unique and show everyone that times are progressing and anything is possible.

The Miami Redhawks finished the 2021 outdoor season in third place at the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which was an improvement after placing seventh at the indoor conference championship meet. Faith Baxter is the top sprinter coming back to compete. The senior from Lima, Ohio, placed third at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in the 400 meters final with a time of 57.02. During the outdoor season she was on the conference runner-up 1,600-meter relay team with Gabriela Cossio, Sarah Bruns and Olivia Bechtel. All of those competitors will return except for Bechtel.

Miami's Kayla Walters and Sarah Bruns are the team's top two hurdlers. Both athletes scored points for their school during the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Track & Field finals of the 100-meter hurdles. Walters placed sixth in the final with a personal best time of 14.28. The junior from Bolingbrook, Illinois, also placed seventh during indoor season in the 60-meter hurdles at the conference indoor meet. Walters was also a member of the fourth place outdoor 400-meter relay squad during the Mid-American Conference outdoor meet.

Bruns placed eighth in the 100-meter hurdles at the conference championship meet during the outdoor season. Her biggest contribution comes in the multi-events competitions. Bruns, a graduate student, from nearby Cincinnati, was first in the pentathlon at the Mid-American Indoor Track & Field Championships. She also placed second in the heptathlon during the outdoor conference championships. In 2020 she placed third in the pentathlon at the Mid-American Conference indoor meet.

Senior Katie Vitou is Miami's ace in the 3,000 meters steeple chase event. She was the Mid-American Conference runner-up in that event. She also shined during the indoor season with a runner-up finish in the 5,000 meters run.

Miami will miss the previously mentioned Olivia Bechtel, who is now done with collegiate athletics. She won Mid-American Conference outdoor titles in the 200 meters, 400 meters along with her runner-up effort on the 1,600-meter relay squad. She was also on the fourth place 400-meter relay team with Walters, Baxter and Meg Wilson. A sophomore from Brentwood, Tennessee, Wilson should be a top competitor in the long jump this season at the conference championships. She won her first collegiate competition when she earned a long jump win at the Sycamore Team Challenge during the indoor season. Wilson tallied one runner-up finish at the Kent State university Collegiate Meet Tune-Up and two third place finishes at the GVSU Mike Lints Alumni Open and GVSU Big Meet-Friday Team Meet.

Senior Sydney Jefferson is Miami's top returning thrower. The West Chester, Ohio, hammer thrower placed seventh for Miami at the Mid American Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with a career best throw of 53.81. Other athletes to watch from Miami in 2022 include sprinter Lucca Agate. The Toronto native helped to lead Miami to a 1,600-meter relay win at the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational during her freshman season. Previously mentioned Gabriela Cossio also participated in a 1,600-meter relay win at the Rocket Invitational which was her final meet of the 2021 season.

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