SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Bethany College women's track and field team opened the indoor portion of the 2025-26 season at the Wittenberg Tiger Collegiate Opener hosted by Wittenberg (Ohio) University at the Steemer Center.
Bethany opened the season with a new wave of young talent across all events, but were led by upperclassmen junior
Cierra Toland (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park) and junior
Madison Donelson (Lanham, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) who both competed in the preliminary rounds of the 60-meter dash.
Toland also ran the 200-meter dash where she finished with a time of 29.99 while freshman
Yakira Cunningham (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial) led the Green and White in the track events with a time of 29.17 in the 200-meter dash.
Cunningham also made her collegiate track debut in the 60-meter dash prelims.
The Bison also had a big day in the field events as junior
Marissa French (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) was the team's leader in the shot put with a mark of 10.07 meters. Two Bethany first-years,
Ariana Augustine (Claysville, Pa./McGuffey) and
Maisie Barrus (Hysham, Mont.) also competed in their first-career shot event where they threw a 9.58 and a 6.71, respectively.
In the weight throw,
Augustine had a team-best 9.90-meter throw while
Barrus followed close behind with a 9.47 and
French closed out the Top-20 with a 9.03-meter throw.
The Bison are back in action on Friday, January 16 as they travel to Youngstown, Ohio to compete at the YSU College Invitational at 12 p.m. at the Watson and Tressel Training Site.
