Dowdell helps AU win GMAC title

ASHLAND — St. Paul graduate Lily Dowdell helped the NCAA Division II Ashland University women's indoor track and field team repeat as conference champions on March 1. The No. 9-ranked Eagles hosted the Great Midwest Athletic Conference indoor championships at the Niss Athletic Center. After going 28 years without an indoor league title, AU has won two straight by scoring 191.5 points — well-ahead of second-place Findlay by 56 points. On Day 1 of the meet (Feb. 28), the AU women's distance medley relay of graduate Hope Sievert, juniors Montana Walker and Jade Avance and senior Lily Dowdell won with a new school and meet record time of 11:28.08. On Day 2 on March 1, Dowdell, a 2020 SPH graduate, was one of four Athletes of the Meet after she won the 3,000-meter run in 9:55.59. She also placed second in the one-mile run in 4:49.82, which again broke her own school record and improved her provisional time in the event. Earlier this indoor campaign, the graduate senior broke the AU indoor records in both the 3,000 run and the mile run, and was part of a school-record-breaking distance medley relay. At the host Jud Logan Light Giver Open on Feb. 8, Dowdell broke the program mark in the women's mile run, set earlier this season by herself. The former All-Ohioan for the Flyers won the event in 4:51.65, making her the only AU women's indoor runner to go sub-five minutes in the mile — and she's done it twice this winter. Dowdell was a three-time All-Mountain East selection at the University of Charleston in cross country. She began competing at Ashland in January 2024 during the indoor track and field season. This past fall, Dowdell turned in four top-10 individual placements in cross country, including a win at the Ohio Wesleyan Invitational and a runner-up finish at the Tiffelberg Open. She ran a 21:59.8 at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Championships, where she placed sixth on Oct. 26. Dowdell competed at the Div. II Midwest regional meet and placed 43rd overall in 22:32.68 out of 195 runners in the race. At St. Paul, Dowdell was a four-time individual Firelands Conference champion, as she joined Erin McFadden (St. Paul, 1996-99) and Emily Trent (Crestview, 2009-12) as the only four-time champs in FC girls history. At the state cross country meet, Dowdell placed 57th, 10th and 29th in three appearances. Dowdell and the Eagles will await the full announcement of the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships qualifiers on March 4. The NCAA championships will be March 13-15 in Indianapolis. Woodruff helps break Sun Belt mark BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Marshall University women's distance medley relay team broke a 24-year-old meet record on the opening day of the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Indoor track and field championships, contested on Feb. 24 at the Birmingham CrossPlex. In the final event of day, Marshall was led by senior Kylee Mastin in the final leg as the Thundering Herd set a new meet record in 11:29.22, a record that had not been touched since 2001. Mastin was joined by Hannah Wyler, Brynn McKeever and Western Reserve graduate McKenna Woodruff atop the podium with the season best time. Roeder wraps up junior year Isaac Roeder finished up his third season on the NCAA Div. III College of Wooster men's basketball team last weekend. Roeder, a 2023 Monroeville graduate, appeared in all 28 games for the Scots, including nine starts. He averaged 3.9 points and 1.8 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game. Wooster finished 21-7 overall and 11-5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Scots fell, 79-68, in the conference championship game to host Denison on March 1. Adelman is GMAC AOTW INDIANAPOLIS — The Great Midwest Athletes of the week for March 1 were announced on Monday by the league office. Scotty Adelman, a 2021 St. Paul graduate, also earned G-MAC North Division Pitcher of the Week after his performance in a complete-game win against West Virginia Wesleyan on March 1 in Winterhaven, Fla. The former All-Ohio standout earned his second win of the season, throwing seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. He allowed four hits and an unearned run in the 3-1 win by teh Dragons. For the season, Adelman is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA in three starts. He's allowed three earned runs on 12 hits with 15 strikeouts and four walks. Seidel off to another strong start South Central graduate Sam Seidel is off to another solid start through the first 10 games of the season for the NCAA Div. I Bowling Green baseball team. Batting leadoff for the Falcons (5-5), Seidel is batting .275 with two doubles, three RBIs, three walks, three runs and 45 total bases. Seidel, a 2022 S.C. graduate, was All-Mid-American Conference first team at second base for the Falcons in 2024. Norwalk duo start seasons Norwalk graduates Thomas Gfell and Sam Battles have also gotten their baseball seasons underway at the College of Wooster and Ohio Dominican University. Gfell has made one appearance in relief for the Scots and pitched two scoreless innings on Feb. 21. Last season, he was one of the top relievers for Wooster with a team-high 17 appearances and 23-plus innings, tied for fifth-most on the team. He also had two saves. Battles has started four games for ODU and is batting .286 with a run scored for the Panthers. The catcher appeared in 24 games and made 12 starts over his first two seasons prior to this spring.