Rio's Roach earns spot in NAIA nationals at RSC meet

Rio Grande/RSC Sports Information
     LOGAN, Ohio - Jayden Roach provided the University of Rio Grande with its only individual first-place finish and earned the chance to compete for a national championship in the process during Saturday's River States Conference Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships at Logan High School's Chieftain Center.
     Roach, a sophomore from Baltimore, Ohio, finished the 600-meter run in a time of 1:38.62 to hit "B" standard in the event for the NAIA National Championships, which are scheduled for March 2-4 at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D.
     Roach's time on Saturday, which is slower than the listed "B" standard, came on a 200-meter track and met the standard after USTFCCCA conversion measures.
     Roach was also part of the RedStorm's 4x400 relay team, which finished first in a conference- and school-record time of 4:09.36. The quartet also included freshman Chloe Lovett (Washington Court House, OH), sophomore Lauren Jolley (Wheelersburg, OH) and sophomore Kendra Grooms (West Union, OH).
     Rio Grande, which had its roster for Saturday's meet limited due to a number of student-athletes sidelined with flu-like symptoms, finished fifth as a team with 69 points.
     Point Park amasssed 156 points on the day to lead the field for a sixth consecutive year. Indiana University Kokomo earned runner-up honors with 121 points, with St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) finishing third with 112 points.
     Point Park senior Alyssa Campbell earned another RSC Women's Track Athlete of the Year honor by claiming gold in four different events and leading the women's meet with 32.50 points scored. She won the 800 meters, mile and 3,000 meters and anchored Point Park's winning 4x800 relay. She set two records on the day in the mile (5:20) and 800 (2:20).
     Carlow senior Olivia Miller earned RSC Women's Field Athlete of the Year with 28 points, 26 of which came in the field. She led all field athletes in scoring winning the high jump and placing second in the long jump and triple jump. She also scored in the 60-meter hurdles.
     IU Kokomo sophomore Makala Pfefferkorn was second overall in the meet with 31 points and claimed RSC Newcomer of the Year. She won three gold medals on the day in the 60 hurdles, the long jump and triple jump. She also scored in the high jump. Pfefferkorn's time of 9.09 seconds in the hurdles set a meet record.
     IU Kokomo head coach Josh Colvin was named RSC Women's Coach of the Year after leading the Cougars to runner-up honors.
     There were many championship records set at the meet. In addition to Campbell in the 800 and mile and Pfefferkorn in the hurdles, Midway's Nevaeh Brown upped her own championship record in the pole vault winning first place with a record height of 3.52 meters.
     In the relay events, along with Rio Grande's new record in the 4x400, IU Kokomo finished off the meet in the distance medley record time of 13:06.42.
     The top three finishers in each event and relay earned all-conference honors. The top eight placements in each event earned points for their team. Four entries per school, per event were allowed.
     Other scoring performances for Rio Grande were recorded by sophomore Cassidy Vogt (North Robinson, OH), who placed second in the high jump at 1.55m, fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.21 and fifth in the long jump with a leap of 4.98m; Grooms, who was third in the high jump at 1.55m and 8th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:04.31; Lovett, who placed fourth in the 400-meter dash with a mark of 1:03.07; freshman Megan Diven (Caledonia, OH), who was fourth in the shot put with a heave covering 11.06m; freshman Natalie Brammer, who was fourth in the 3,000-meter race walk with a time of 21:18.86; Jolly, who was eighth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.94; freshman Karley Kouns (Wheelersburg, OH), who was eighth in the weight throw with a toss of 11.64m; and senior Beth Arnold (Williamstown, WV), who placed eighth in the shot put with a heave of 10.10m.
     Rio's 4x800 relay unit also scored points by finishing 5th in a time of 11:32.89. The quartet was comprised of freshman Olivia Cisco (Waverly, OH), sophomore Abrielle Kerns (Lancaster, OH), freshman Kaylor Offenberger (Waterford, OH) and Brammer.
     The RSC Women's Indoor Track & Field Champions of Character Team was also selected with one team member from each school named for best representing the five character values of the NAIA: respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.
     Rio was represented on the list by Brammer.