RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – On Friday, the Great American Conference announced the results of its 2022 GAC women's track & field preseason coaches' poll. Harding received six first-place votes to enter the season as the favorite.
The Lady Bisons won the 2021 GAC Championships by 91.5 points. They won nine events as well as the 4x100 meter relay. They return six GAC Champions and four NCAA Championship qualifiers. Anna Kay Clark and Kinga Szarzynska earned All-America honors at the NCAA Championships as Clark placed fifth in the javelin and Clark took 11
th in the 800. Sierra White won the GAC title in the pole and qualified for the NCAA Championships and Anne-Noelle Clerima advanced in the 400-meter hurdles.
Additional returning GAC champions for the Lady Bisons include Cara Mason, Briana Johnson and Mariah Miller. Mason won the shot put and the hammer throw. Johnson took first in the 100-meter dash and Miller claimed the title in the triple jump. Three of Harding's winning 4x100-meter relay team – Johnson, Clerima and Krisman Eakin – return as well.
Oklahoma Baptist received four first-place votes and placed second in the poll. The Bison bring back six GAC champions and their entire GAC-winning 4x400 relay team. Emma Downing earned the MVP honors at the 2021 GAC Championships after winning the 5000-meter run, finishing second in the 800, 1500 and taking third in the 10,000.
At the 2021 GAC Championships, Tahlor Brown won the 110-meter hurdles; Mary McKey won the 400; Kayla McGruder finished first in the 3000-meter steeplechase and Isabella won the long jump. McKey, Tizhane Brooks, Adeline O'Connor and Taylor James represented the Bison on the winning relay team
Southern Arkansas finished third on the heels of a third-place showing at the GAC Championships. Alexis Matlock returns after claiming a GAC title in the high jump. Southeastern Oklahoma State came in fourth. The Savage Storm must replace Jessie Sanchez, the conference champion in the 200 and 400.
Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Nazarene finished in fifth and sixth in the balloting, respectively. Ouachita and Southwestern Oklahoma State tied for seventh. Arkansas Tech and East Central rounded out the poll.
The 2022 GAC Championships take place from Thursday, May 5th through the 7
th in Shawnee, Oklahoma on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University.
