It was a busy weekend of track and field for Ohio. It sent a trio of its distance runners to compete at the Hillsdale Gina Relays, while the rest of its team traveled to Miami to compete in the RedHawk Invitational.
Alyssa Atkinson was the highest finisher for Ohio at the Gina Relays. She ran a new personal record time of 16:54.62 on Friday night to place ninth in the championship round of the 5,000 meters. With that, she automatically qualified for the upcoming Mid-American Conference Championships.
The rest of the Ohio contingent begun action in Oxford on Saturday morning.
Three Ohio throwers placed in the top seven of the hammer throw to start the day at Miami’s George L. Rider Track Complex.
Gaza Odunaiya led the way with a second-place performance. Her best throw went for 54.72 meters (179.6 feet). Freshman Abby Moore placed fifth, throwing for 48.77 meters (160 feet). Cassidy Cleland placed in seventh after twirling the hammer 47.91 meters (157.2 feet).
Three Bobcats later placed in the top six of the javelin.
Emma Ryan recorded a season-best throw of 44.67 meters (146.7 feet) to take the win. Tajah Haley wrapped up her javelin performance with a career-best throw of 41.43 meters (135.11 feet) to place third. Freshman Sophie Yantko threw for 33.20 meters (108.11 feet) to place sixth.
Ryan secured her second event victory of the day in the discus. She didn’t have one foul en route to her first-place finish. Her winning toss went 46.89 meters (153.10 feet). Cleland finished eighth in the event with her best launch of 36.79 meters (120.8 feet).
Despite the pressure of being the lone Bobcat in the shot put, Moore recorded her second top-five event finish on the day. She placed third with a solid 13.65-meter (44.9 foot) put.
Abby Summers, another freshman, was the highest finisher for the Bobcats at Miami in both the short sprints. She placed 10th in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.63 seconds and 11th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.55 seconds. Thelma Agyekum placed 12th in the 100-meter dash to finish shortly behind Summers with her run of 12.65 seconds.
Marissa Handel placed fourth for Ohio in the 400-meter dash with her time of 57.87 seconds, while Kaitlyn Logan led Ohio in the 800 meters with a time of 2:21.35 to finish 12th.
Josie Woosley had a huge lifetime-best in the 1,500 meters with her run of 4:36.02. She bested her previous personal record set last week in Columbus by over five seconds. She placed sixth in the 31-runner field.
Christina Seas led Ohio at Miami in the 5,000 meters with a fifth-place performance. She completed the race in 18:10.12. Mary Richardson had a personal breakthrough in the event. She broke her previous personal best from Charlotte by over 15 seconds to place 12th with her 18:53.28 run.
Mya Hodge’s trail of recent success continued as she placed third in the 100-meter hurdles with her time of 14.63 seconds.
Ohio didn’t race in any of the relays contested this weekend.
Ohio will stay in Athens this week to host the Ohio Open. Events are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. on Friday at Goldsberry Track. It will be the team’s final meet before the MAC Championships.
