Waynesburg University sent about half of their athletes to Ohio Wesleyan University Friday afternoon for their last meet before they prepare for the PAC Championships two weeks later. While some may tend to treat it as little more than a tune-up event, others used it to build some momentum as the tail end of the indoor season approaches.

One of those latter mentioned athletes was freshman Ella Rishell, who notched first place finishes in three different events, with those being long jump, (4.56 meters) triple jump (10.04 meters) and the 200-meter dash, finishing with a time of 28.54 seconds. Despite such a day, Rishell is seemingly not satisfied with the day, but is using this as a learning experience.

“My 200 yesterday time wise was not one of my best, however, it does give me an idea on what I need to work on coming into PAC’s.” Rishell said, while noting that she does not see yesterday as the best performance of their season, “I see the placing as us not necessarily peaking but settling into our training and being able to compete in a more fluid state.”

Another individual who took first on the women’s side was Kara Yaukey, who notched that placing with a time of 8.31 seconds in the 60-meter dash. For Yaukey, who is also notching first place performances as a freshman, seems to be maintaining a similar mindset to Rishell on where they are in their training to this point of the season.

“I don’t necessarily see it as a peak, I think it’s us applying our training. We’re just going to keep improving and setting ourselves up for outdoor.” Yaukey said, while concluding with the fact that she wishes to just, “keep working hard and taking it day by day” as the conference championship approaches.

Other placers for the women include Megan Barry by taking third and eighth in the long jump and shotput respectively, as well as Sam Kelly who also finished third place, with her placement coming in the 400-meter dash. As for the men, they set just as high of a standard with several individuals coming back with placings. Just as impressive is that all the nine placings were in the top three for

their events, with the performance of the day arguably going to Quinton Weaver, who not only took first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:02.23, as well as beat the second-place runner by over 38 seconds but set the school record in the event.

The Jackets will have a nearly two-week layoff before they travel to Youngstown State University for the PAC Championships on Thursday, Feb. 22. With such a gap between then and now, athletes on the team like Rishell and others are planning on using this time to get their bodies and minds in the best position possible going into the championships.

“My approach to training during our lay off is to stay healthy. I’ll be working more on technique and mechanics behind my events and taking a lighter approach to our workouts.” Rishell said.