CHARLESTON, Ill. - - Belmont University women's track and field earned a second-place finish Saturday at the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships at Eastern Illinois University.
Belmont, Southeast Missouri and Murray State waged a fierce battle throughout the day, with each team having a chance at the conference crown heading into the final two events of the meet.
The Redhawks were able to pull away and claim the title at 148 points.
Behind five podium finishes Saturday, the Bruins posted 133 points for a program-best finish at conference.
Senior Adreanna Parlette (Nashville, Tenn.) would earn OVC Female Field Athlete of the Year honors.
Freshman Rebekah Stucker (Odessa, Mo.) delivered another impressive performance in the circle, recording a silver medal showing in the shot put to open the morning and enable Belmont to build upon its overnight lead.
Sophomore Maddie Quinn (Bible Hill, Canada) more than did her part, punctuating a distinguished spring with a first-place effort in the javelin; her mark of 45.91m bested the field by more than two and a quarter meters.
As Southeast Missouri and Murray State started gaining their stride midway through the proceedings, Belmont got two gutsy performances from sophomore Lily Hallum (Mason, Ohio). After a fifth place finish in the 1,500 meters, Hallum dug deep for bronze in the 800 meters with a time of 2:12.86, holding off a number of competitors in the home stretch.
Only a photo finish in the 100 meter hurdles kept Parlette off yet another podium before senior Payton Barlow (White House, Tenn.) provided four points in the 400 meters.
Senior Caroline Pruitt (Allen, Texas) and Southeast Missouri's Kendall Long lived up to the highly-anticipated 400 meter hurdles final, with Pruitt taking silver.
After contributions from senior Claire Cheeseman (Brentwood, Tenn.) and freshman Grace Litzinger (Fayetteville, Ark.) in the 5,000 meters, Pruitt, freshman Sarah Richmond (Ocala, Fla.), senior Katrina Quigley (Nashville, Tenn.) and Barlow earned third in the 4 x 400 meter relay in a time of 3:49.38.
Several Belmont team members will advance to the 2021 NCAA East Regionals May 27-29 in Jacksonville, Florida; a final list of qualifiers will be determined in the coming days.
2021 OVC Outdoor Championships Central
