RedHawks Crown Five Champions on Last Day of MAC Championship

Saturday, May 11

Muncie, Ind.

All Day

Miami University

MAC Outdoor Championships

RedHawks Crown Five Champions on Last Day of MAC Championship

5/11/2019 9:38:00 PM | Track & Field, Cross Country

Final Results

Sean Torpy, Olivia Bechtel, and Ryan Smith all earn honors.

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Miami University track and field team wrapped up competition at the 2019 Mid-American Conference Friday at Ball State University. The Miami men concluded the weekend in third place with a total of 119 points, while the RedHawk women finished sixth in the meet with 70 points.

The top-three finish by the men's team marks the program's best performance since 1994.

Juniors Sean Torpy, the men's competition's Most Valuable Performer and Olivia Bechtel, the women's Most Outstanding Track Performer were Miami's standouts on the day. In addition, Freshman Ryan Smith took home men's Field Freshman of the Year.

Torpy was arguably the most impressive athlete across the entire meet as he picked up three individual titles. Starting in the 1500, Torpy ran a 3:54.03 to coast to the win. He was followed by his brother Christopher Torpy in third and freshman Anthony Camerieri in fifth. In his second finals of the day, Sean added his second title with a victory in the 800m. He put up a facility record time of 1:48.53 after pulling away from Buffalo's Atkins in a sprint to the finish down the final stretch. Jonathan Fee also hit the podium in the event, taking third with a 1:51.07.

Torpy's third win was in the 5000m, one of the day's final events. After hanging near the top of the pack for nearly all of the race, he found a new gear on the last lap and surged ahead to breeze to the finish line. Freshman Alex Tam came in fourth in the same race.

Another MAC Title was earned by Bechtel over in the 400m. The junior turned in a huge 52.85 run, not only earning herself the individual conference title but also breaking both a Miami school record as well as a Ball State facility record. Bechtel would return to the podium in the 200m, where a 23.88 run garnered her the bronze medal.

The fifth event win of the day for Miami also featured Bechtel as the women's 4x400 team successfully defended their crown from last season. Joined by Kalliopi Kountouri, Faith Baxter, and Emily Hooker, Bechtel ran a huge anchor leg to bring the RedHawks back from behind and claim the gold medal. The foursome turned in a time of 3:40.96.

Elsewhere, senior Aaron Muresan had a big day of his own with two medals in the hurdle events. He ran a 14.22 for third in the 110m, and followed that up with the 400 hurdles later in the day with a 52.63 for second place.

In the field, Smith wrapped up his four-event weekend. Competing in all four throws, Smith finished with top-fives in both the discus and javelin. The freshman also garnered points in the shot put en route to picking up post-meet honors.

Akron won the conference title on both the men's and women's sides.

Full results from the meet can be found above.

The postseason continues for the RedHawks with the NCAA Championship season approaching; the East Region Preliminaries are scheduled to run two weeks from now in Jacksonville.