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Wheeling University Fares Well At Al Campbell Invitational

AKRON, OH. — With the whole team in tow for the first time in 2025, the Wheeling University Men’s Indoor Track & Field team made the trip to Akron, Ohio. They would compete at the Al Campbell Invitational, and continued their success with three top five finishes on the day.

It gave the Cardinals a chance to see NCAA DI competition on the road to the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Indoor Track & Field Championships in Huntington, West Virginia.

The Cardinals had one field athlete compete on the night, and he would end up leading the Cardinals with two of their three top five finishes. Jumper Kabwe Bwalya continued to be a leader for the field events, taking a second place finish and a fifth place finish on the night.

His top finish would come in the Men’s Triple Jump, where he took second with a distance of 12.76 Meters. It was his second, second place finish of the season in the event and he beat out Lake Erie’s Dimari Payne for the top spot by a Division II athlete.

He would come back in the Men’s Long Jump, and rounded out his big day taking fifth place. He would reach a distance of 5.63 meters to round out the day, and finished 1.30 meters behind Buffalo’s Micha Blair for the top spot.

The other top five finish came on the track as Joshua Boehm competed in the 400-Meter Dash. He took second place in the event, running a time of 48.83 seconds, and was just .69 seconds away from the top spot.

After making his 2024-2025 debut last time out, Boehm was able to drop nearly a full two seconds off his time from the Capital Alumni Invitational. Boehm would come back in the final track event of the day, running in the 200-Meter Dash. He would take home sixth place in the event with a time of 22.29 seconds. It was his 2024-25 debut in the event as he rounded out a big day.

Drew Pierce and Erick Berroa rounded out the event, with Pierce taking 8th (55.59) and Berroa taking 9th (57.61).

The sprinters would kick the day off in the 60-Meter Dash, as Jan Wray took to the blocks. He just missed qualifying for the finals, running a time of 7.05 seconds to finish ninth on the day.

He also competed in the 200-Meter Dash, and finished his day taking 16th with a time of 23.33. The final competitor for the Cardinals was Shane Levesque, who led the distance group in the Men’s 3000 meter run.

He would take ninth in the event, running a time of 9:24.70 to round out the day.

The Wheeling University Men’s Indoor Track & Field team returns to action on Saturday, January 25th, when they compete at the SPIRE Midwest Invitational.

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

AKRON OH. — After opening the 2025 portion of their schedule last week, the Wheeling University Women’s Indoor Track & Field team was back at it Friday night. They competed in their first full team event of the new calendar year, making the trip to the Al Campbell Invitational, hosted by the University of Akron.

It was a big day for the Cardinal field events, as they paced the effort with two top five finishes on the day.

Leading the pack was the pole vault duo of Keala McCurry and Jenna Smith, who each brought home top 10 finishes on the day.

After Smith narrowly edged out McCurry last time out, it was McCurry’s time to shine this time around. The graduate student would take sixth overall at the event, reaching a height of 3.23 meters, putting her just .02 meters behind her top flight of the season.

She was the top Division II flyer on the day, and cleared the 3.20 meter mark for the third straight event. Finishing two spots behind her was her own teammate Smith, who would reach a height of 3.08 meters on the day. She needed just one try to clear the mark, but was unable to get over the 3.23 meter bar to round out her day.

McCurry and Smith hold the #1 and #2 spots in the event respectfully and each look to continue their success throughout the season.

The field events would see two more competitors as Tara Perry took on the Women’s High Jump and. Ashleigh Alston handled the Women’s Shot Put. Perry was up first in the High Jump and took 15th overall, to pick up the team’s final top 15 finish.

She reached a height of 1.50 Meters to take 13th overall and second among NCAA DII competitors at the event. The final field athlete for the Cardinals was Alston, who took on the Women’s Shot Put.

It was her first time competing this season and she finished 29th with a distance of 9.40 Meters. The rest of the action would come in the track for the Cardinals as the sprinters took the driver’s seat.

The day began with the 60-Meter Dash as Deja Ryals took the the starting blocks. The graduate student ran a time of 8.14 to finish 19th in the field, but knocked .04 seconds off her fastest time of the season.

The Cardinal’s other graduate student, Bre’ ya Clopper would be next in the 400-Meter Dash and took 26th with a time of 1:06.07. The final track event of the day for the Cardinals was the 200-Meter Dash with three Cardinals competing.

Ryals led the way, taking 23td with a time of 26.95, while Clopper took 31st (28.48).

The Wheeling University Women’s Indoor Track & Field team returns to action on Saturday, September 25th, when they take on the SPIRE Midwest Classic.

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