Women's Track & Field | May 11, 2018
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Western Michigan senior thrower Audrey Oswalt was the highlight of the day for the Western Michigan track and field team as it opened the 2018 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships at Buffalo on Thursday.
Oswalt, who walked on to the team last year after playing a season for the WMU women's basketball team, had the meet of her life and finished in second place in the javelin, earning Second Team All-MAC honors in the process. She threw a distance of 147' 7" (44.98 meters), the second-furthest in WMU history since the recent change in format. She was in first place until the final throw of Kent State's Gabrielle Figueroa surpassed her.
"Audrey is the perfect example of why we have our open door policy," said head coach Kelly Lycan. "Basketball didn't work out for her and an old high school rival of hers, Jordan Anderson, told her how I loved to talk walk-ons. She joined us in the middle of the season last year and she worked hard in the summer. Coach (Pat) Tracy is really good at figuring out the best event for our throwers and the javelin just started clicking for her. He did a great job of being patient and allowing her to take her time with the event. It's just great to see a kid that just wanted to be a part of the team have so much success."
Assistant throws coach Pat Tracy added, "Audrey had a day that will be remembered for a long time. She elevated to and above the competition. This is what makes college athletics special."
Overall the Broncos had a solid day. Sophomore Erin Dowd had the top qualifying time in the 400-meter hurdles, running 59.57 seconds to set herself up for Saturday's final.
Junior Allison Hufnagel sits fifth after four events in the heptathlon with 2,743 points. She finished seventh in the shot put, third in the high jump, sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the 200-meter dash. Her three strongest events, the long jump javelin and 800-meter run conclude the heptathlon on Friday.
The conclusion of the heptathlon kicks things off for the Broncos on Friday.
