Women’s Track Begins Last Chance Schedule at Hillsdale

Wheeling, W. Va. – With the first week of May in full swing, the Wheeling University Outdoor Track & Field team is making their final push for the 2025 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field National Championships. The Men’s team kicked off their schedule on Saturday at the Jesse Owens Classic and now the Women get their run kicked off on Wednesday. Keala McCurry will head to the Hillsdale Invitational where she will compete in the Women’s Pole Vault.  

The Cardinal Women’s Track team had several strong individual performances at the 2025 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Cardinals would finish with six top five finishers across the three days of competition, and had two athletes compete in the finals of their event on the third day of competition. Things started out strong in the field on the opening day of competition, with the Cardinals getting their first two top five finishers. The Cardinals would also have their first finals qualifier in the 400-Meter Hurdles as they started the event strong. The two top five finishers would turn into a trend, with the team having two on each day of competition. In the end, they had one runner in the finals of her event and one MEC Champion to round out the event. 

That lone individual championship would go to Keala McCurry, who competed in both the Women’s Pole Vault and the 400-Merer Hurdles across the three days of competition. Her individual title would come in the pole vault, where she won her third straight title with a height of 3.35 meters. She was the only competitor to clear the 3.35 meter mark and attempted 3.63 meters, but was unable to clear. She would also start the event strong on day one, qualifying for the finals of the 400-Meter Hurdles with a time of 1:06.46. it was the third straight PR in the event for McCurry and as she headed into day two, she would improve on that time even further. She finished fourth overall at 1:04.80, and set a new PR for the fourth straight time in the event. She looks to continue building on both events at Hillsdale.  

The other Cardinal top five finishes both came in the field, with Trinity Ortiz in the Javelin and Tara Perry in the High Jump. Ortiz would be the first top five finisher for the Cardinals on Day one, as she continues her success in the Javelin. Ortiz would take fifth overall in the event, throwing a distance of 31.69 meters. It was just over two meters shy of her PR for the event, and was the start of a strong event. The final top five finish came in the field on the final day as Tara Perry took on the High Jump. Perry would jump to a height of 1.50 meters, needing two jumps to clear the height. It was good enough for a fifth place finish in the field as she finished out a strong career with the Cardinals as a leader for the jumping group.  

Wednesday will be one of two Last Chance Meets for McCurry, who has a current season best mark of 3.74 meters in the Pole Vault. It is just one meter shy of her PR at 1.75 meters and has her sitting Just . 04 meters shy of the NCAA Provo Mark. Throughout the season, McCurry has hit a height of 3.50 Meters twice this season and has gone over the 3.40 Meter mark on three different occasions. She hit her current season best in the final event of the regular season at the Otterbein Twilight Invitational, when she hit the height of 3.74 meters. She would hit her current PR of 3.75 meters at last season’s outdoor Track & Field Championships, where she also set the meet record. Those are the only two times in her career that she has eclipsed the 3.70 meter mark and she will have two more chances this week to do just that.  

Event Details 

Wednesday’s Hillsdale Last Chance Meet will be held at the Outdoor Track at Hayden Park with first events beginning at 11 AM. The Men’s and Women’s Hammer Throw will get the event started in the pit while McCurry will be up first in the pole vault at 11 AM. She will be competing against some of the best in the region, who are all looking to qualify for the 2025 NCAA DII Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She was the MEC’s top pole vaulter during both indoor and outdoor season and is looking to qualify for the National Championships for the first time in her career.  

Event Info 

First events begin at the Hillsdale College Last Chance Meet at 11 AM. You can follow along with Live Results by clicking HERE.