Ohio will look to continue its consistency and improvement when the team returns to action in the two-day Thundering Herd Open on Friday and Saturday at Marshall.
The Bobcats are coming off strong performances at the Youngstown State Invitational where they had multiple high finishes across the events. One of the top finishes came from Olivia Mayfield who finished third in the long jump at Youngstown State, marking a top-three finish in every event this season.
The ‘A’ 4x400 relay team is also looking to continue the consistent start that saw the team earn a third place finish in Youngstown. The unit has earned a top-five finish every meet this season. All these top finishes are impressive for this relay team, as it is made up of three sophomores and one freshman.
Ohio is also looking to continue their team success in the weight throws after having Emma Ryan, Gaza Odunaiya, Cassidy Cleland and Jordan Porter all secured top-15 finishes at Youngstown State.
Porter will look to continue success this season, success that has found her in second place twice and fifth place once in shot put, but she still feels that there is room for improvement.
“There is still a lot of improvement even to get to my outdoor mark, but so far it’s going better than other years,” Porter said of her indoor season so far.
Ryan will also look to continue her consistent performances this season in the weight throws. She finished second, seventh and fourth in meets this season.
This consistency is something Ryan was looking to improve this season.
“I’ve just been kind of consistent this year which is something I have struggled with in the past with weight,” she said.
Look for more out of Tajah Haley in the high hurdles and as a 400-meter runner, as well. Haley has impressed coach Clay Calkins with her ability to transition to high hurdler, while still working in the 400-meter event.
“She’s done a great job transitioning into the high hurdles for us, but I also want her to focus on the 400 as well since she is an accomplished runner in that event,” Calkins said.
The last time Ohio faced Marshall was in the first meet of the season back in December. Most of the Bobcats back in that meet were just making their first collegiate appearance and have made improvements since, and for Calkins he is just hoping to get better each week.
“I just hope the marks go out farther, the jumps get higher and farther and the times get better,” Calkins said.
