LOGAN, Ohio -- Point Park University women's track and field stayed perfect in River States Conference indoor track and field with their seventh-straight conference indoor crown -- and they did it in style.
The Point Park women won the 2024 RSC Indoor Track & Field Championship Saturday, Feb. 17 to secure their seventh team title in seven tries. The Pioneers have won every RSC indoor championship since the conference started its indoor meet in 2018.
Not only that, this time around, the Point Park women took the title with a championship record of 240.50 points. That completely shattered the previous record -- set by the Point Park team in 2020 -- of 212 points. With a total and complete performance on the track and in the field, the Pioneers are once again on top of RSC indoor track and field.
AWARD WINNERS
The Point Park women ran to their record championship with the top four individual point scorers in the entire meet all coming from the Pioneers' roster.
Allison Plassio, a senior mid-distance and distance runner, was first in the conference with 35 total points on the day. That earned the Norwin HS product RSC Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year honors. She won five gold medals including first place in the 800, mile and 3,000 and anchoring wins in the 4x800 and distance-medley relays. Here performance of 5:16.13 in the mile broke the championship record.
Diamond Rush was fourth overall in the meet scoring with 28.50 points. The sprinter who transferred in this year from Tennessee Tech, was named RSC Women's Indoor Track & Field Newcomer of the Year with that effort. She won the 200 -- in a podium sweep that clinched the team points record for the Pioneers -- and also finished second in the 60 and 400. She also anchored the first-place 4x400 relay. Rush's time of 26.06 in the 200 meters tied the RSC record.
Tim Creamer, in his third year at Point Park, was named RSC Women's Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. In leading the Pioneers to the team title and team record for points, the Point Park team won 10 of the 20 events conducted in the meet.
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
The Pioneers had many other top performers as well. Mya Greschner was second overall in the meet with 34.50 points. She won the 400 meters while placing second in the 200 and being on the winning 4x400 relay. In the field, the Carlow transfer and former RSC Newcomer of the Year was second in the triple jump and third in the long.
Natalea Hillen turned in another very strong RSC meet in her senior season. The sprinter, hurdler and jumper had a busy day and scored 29 points at the championship. She won the 60-meter hurdles tying the championship record at 9.03 seconds, which also hit the NAIA national-qualifying mark. She was third in the 200, tied for third in the high jump, took fourth in the 400 and was on the winning 4x400.
Cassondra O'Connor, a freshman from South Park, Pa., made it five Pioneers in the Top 10 point scorers of the meet. She earned her way into ninth overall for points scoring in four different events -- second in the 1,000, fifth in the 600, fifth in the mile and as a member of the first-place distance-medlay relay.
Sophia Lee-Hauser won the race walk for 10 big points and also scored in the 5,000 meters finishing fifth. She is an NAIA national qualifier in the race walk and was 12th overall in the RSC meet scoring.
ALL-CONFERENCE WINNERS
The top three finishers in each event earned all-conference honors with gold, silver and bronze medals. The Point Park women had 20 all-conference performers. That included 17 individual medals and sweeping all three relays in first place -- 4x800, 4x400 and distance medley.
Plassio earned five medals with all of them gold. Greschner came away with five medals as well with two golds, two silvers and a bronce. Hillen and Rush won four medals each with an individual gold to both of their names as well as another for the 4x400. The final gold medal for the Pioneers was Sophia Lee-Hauser in the race walk.
O'Connor's silver medal in the 1,000 was another big placement. Corinne Lee-Hauser was third in the same event for a bronze medal. Emma Roemer earned silver for second place in the 60-meter hurdles. She was also fourth in the triple jump.
Point Park's winning 4x800 team of Jana Schmid, Olivia Hare, Karen Rios and Plassio took first place for their performance. The 4x400 relay included Hillen, Hannah Bond, Greschner and Rush. Point Park finished off the meet with yet another win in the final of the distance medley featuring Corinne Lee-Hauser, O'Connor, Schmid and Plassio.
OTHER POINT SCORERS
The top eight finishers in each event scored points for their team. Not only did they sweep the 200 podium, the Pioneers went 1-2-4-8 in the 400 with Greschner first, Rush second, Hillen fourth and Hannah Bond eighth. That scored a total of 24 points.
The mile had 19 points from the Pioneers with Hare fourth and O'Connor fifth to join in the scoring along with event winner Plassio. The Pioneers had 12 points come from the 600 meters with Schmid in fourth, O'Connor in fifth, Rios in sixth and Corinne Lee-Hauser in eighth. The 800 was also a big event with Plassio first, Hare fourth and Kiyara Sawyers fifth. The mid-distance dominance continued in the 1,000 with Rios in fifth after podiums from O'Connor and Lee-Hauser.
In the 5,000 meters, Sophia Lee-Hauser took fifth with Sawyers in eighth. Mya Jackson came in seventh in the race walk with Lee-Hauser winning.
Point Park had four scorers in the 60-meter hurdles with Hannah Bond fifth and Luchama Lubin sixth after Hillen and Roemer going 1-2 in the event. Rush and RaKeya Ellsberry scored in the 60 dash with Rush second and Ellsberry seventh.
The high jump had Eden McElhaney get fifth to score points along with Hillen in third. The triple jump had points from Lubin in fifth place with Greschner second and Roemer fourth.
CHAMPION OF CHARACTER
The RSC Women's Indoor Track & Field Champions of Character Team was also named. Point Park's representative was Natalea Hillen, a senior. One member of each team was named for best displaying the NAIA's Champions of Character values of respect, responsibility, integrity, servant leadership and sportsmanship.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Point Park (Pa.) -- 240.50
2. IU Kokomo -- 97.50
3. Rio Grande (Ohio) -- 75
4. Shawnee State (Ohio) -- 70.50
5. Brescia (Ky.) -- 67
6. IU East -- 53.50
7. St. Mary-of-the-Woods (Ind.) -- 53
8. Midway (Ky.) -- 50
9. Oakland City (Ind.) -- 32
10. Ohio Christian -- 19
11. WVU Tech -- 14
RSC AWARD WINNERS
Team Champion -- Point Park (Pa.) -- 240.50 (Meet Record)
Team Runner-Up -- IU Kokomo -- 97.50 points
RSC Track Athlete of the Year -- Allison Plassio, Point Park (Pa.)
RSC Field Athlete of the Year -- Sydney Duncan, IU Kokomo
RSC Track & Field Newcomer of the Year -- Diamond Rush, Point Park (Pa.)
RSC Track & Field Coach of the Year -- Tim Creamer, Point Park (Pa.)
