Lawson Qualifies for NCAA Championships
Courtesy of MAC Sport Information Departments
Akron // Penn State National
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The University of Akron track and field squad registered four victories as part of 17 overall top-five performances to culminate the Zips' efforts at the two-day Penn State National on Saturday, Feb. 1.
Akron garnered five marks on the day that represented a quintet of top-five performances in indoor program history.
The men's 4x400 relay squad of sophomore Amir Willis (Cincinnati, Ohio), freshman Zarik Brown (Dayton, Ohio), redshirt freshman Demetrius Jackson (Beachwood, Ohio) and redshirt sophomore Noah Williams (Hilton, N.Y.) crossed the line in a winning time of 3:10.00, the second-fastest effort in indoor program history since 2014. The time also stands as the No. 16 mark in the NCAA this season.
Sophomore Nuh Andu (Doha, Qatar) won the men's high jump surpassing a career-best mark of 7-1.50 (2.17m). His clearance stands as the No. 4 mark in indoor program history and ranks 18th in the NCAA in 2020.
Redshirt junior Marc Migliozzi (Pittsburgh, Pa.) recorded a career-best time of 4:06.74 in the men's mile invitational to post the No. 4 time indoor program history en route to placing fifth.
In the men's 3,000-meter invitational, senior Nick Stricklen (Lexington, Ohio) crossed the line in a career-best and No. 4 time in indoor program history of 8:17.33.
Fresh off placing second in the women's 800 meters at the Kazakhstan National Championships with a time of 2:10.19, senior Varvara Lissichkina (Karaganda, Kazakhstan) recorded a career-best time of 2:09.13, the No. 5 performance in indoor program history, to place sixth in the women's 800 meters.
Senior Lucy Bryan (Bristol, England) captured the women's pole vault invitational eclipsing 14-6 (4.42m), while redshirt junior Abby Helminiak (Toledo, Ohio) placed fourth with a clearance of 13-4.25 (4.07m).
Freshman Blake Lucius (Crestline, Ohio) posted a career-best time of 1:53.38 to win the men's 800 meters.
The women's 4x400 relay team of seniors Bailey Lack (Brunswick, Ohio) and Iman Batiste (Dublin, Ohio), sophomore Sara Foster (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) and redshirt junior Dimitra Gnafaki (Chania, Greece) turned in a season-best time of 3:50.05 to finish second.
Lack also placed fifth in the women's 400 meters in a time of 57.67.
Sophomore Malcom Briley (Pickerington, Ohio) came in second in the men's 200 meters in a time of 21.86, while redshirt freshman Charles Sanders (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded a career-best time of 49.17 to finish second in the men's 400 meters.
Williams added to his efforts in the 4x400 relay with a third-place performance in the men's 400-meter invitational in a time of 47.04.
In his collegiate debut in the men's long jump, freshman Dimitrije Novakovic (Belgrade, Serbia) placed third with a career-best mark of 23-9 (7.24m).
Junior Lindsey Scarton (Berea, Ohio) recorded a career-best time of 4:55.98 to finish fourth in the women's mile invitational.
Jackson added another top-five effort in the men's 200-meter invitational crossing the line fifth in a time of 21.37.
The Zips return to competition next weekend hosting the 16th Annual Akron Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7-8, at the Stile Athletics Field House.
Buffalo // Penn State National
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The University at Buffalo indoor track and field team competed in the Penn State National Open over the course of two days. During the two day meet, the team continued to show progress as they set season and personal-bests.
DAY ONE RECAP
UB had three Bulls make the triple jump finals. On the men's side, Shevaughn Allen won the Penn State Open and stays undefeated with a distance of 15.50m/50-10.25. Allen narrowly beat out Akron's Dimitrije Novakovic by .75 inches. Nisa Raqib finished with a distance of 12.20m as she surged to third place finish on her last jump of the day just behind Penn State and West Virginia University jumpers. Christina Wende finished seventh just three tenths (11.90m) of meter behind Raqib.
Selina Von Jackowski handled all three rounds of the 60-meter hurdles by breaking her own record and placing second in 8.37. Anthony Clark placed ninth in the 60-meter hurdles as he came back strong in the semifinals, just off his season-best.
Sam Wray threw a season-best distance in the weight throw of 19.23m in an extremely strong field.
The men's distance medley relay ran a very strong race in a time of 10:03.31 as they were barely edged out by William & Mary for third.
Both Armani Merlino (eighth place – 15:07.15) and Scott Loforte (ninth place – 15:09.78) ran great 5k races. Loforte ran a personal-best by over 18 seconds as Merlino had a strong debut.
DAY TWO RECAP
The Bulls had two top-10 finishes in the 400-meter dash. On the women's side Katriel Perrier finished in 10th out of 25 in a time of 58.29. Gyasi Morris finished eighth out of 24 in a time of 49.85.
David Wolanin earned a personal-best in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.04 as he placed seventh out of 27 runners.
The men had great performances from Caleb Covell, Thomas Flannery and William Hilbert in the 3,000-meter run. Covell earned a season-best time of 8:26.02, good for fourth place. Flannery (eighth place – 8:29.70) and Hilbert (13thplace – 8:31.31) each finished with personal-best times.
The women's 4x400 team earned their season-best time of 3:50.97, while placing first in their heat and beating Binghamton, UMBC and Rider. On the other side, the men's 4x400 team claimed third place in a time of 3:14.89 and passing Georgetown by nearly three seconds. This marks the Bulls' season-best time by almost four seconds.
Perhaps the highlight of the invite was Leon Atkins breaking the UB men's 600-meter dash time and setting a new school record with a time of 1:18.49 while placing third. Atkins broke his own record he established just a season ago (1:18.86).
"This meet was a good test for our team as we continue to prepare for the MAC championships at the end of the month," state head coach Vicki Mitchell. "The Akron Invite and KSU National Qualifier will be the next steps for our team to continue to develop."
UP NEXT
Due to facility renovations, the Bulls will not participate in this year's Spire D-I Invite as it has been canceled. The team will travel to Akron, Ohio to compete in the Akron Invitational on February 7-8 that will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Kent State // Razorback Invitational
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Kent State redshirt senior TJ Lawson concluded the heptathlon competition Saturday afternoon at the Razorback Invitational with a fourth-place finish. His score of 5,885 is the fifth-best in the world this year and secures qualification for 2020 the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships.
A personal-best pole vault height of 15'-9" to earn 849 points and place first in the event highlighted the second day of action for Lawson. He closed the day strong with a time of 2:42.63 in the 1,000-meter run, which was less than a half-second from his personal-best time.
Junior Jacob Mally leaped four competitors on the day and finished eighth with 5,181 points. Mally started by clocking an 8.41 in the 60-meter hurdles for his highest-scoring event of the competition (881 points). He then cleared 14'-1.25" in the pole vault and completed the 1,000-meter run in 2:53.78.
The Flashes will be back in action next weekend for the Akron Invitational on February 7 and 8.
Miami // Indiana Relays
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The second straight meet for the Miami track and field team at Indiana wrapped up on Saturday as the RedHawks competed in the last day of the IU Relays.
Senior Olivia Bechtel continued her outstanding 2020 campaign for the 'Hawks with a great run in the 400m. The Miami school record holder ran a 54.16 in the event, which garnered a third-place finish at the event. This goes down as the best mark in the event from any Mid-American Conference athlete this season and one of the top-25 marks recorded in the entire nation. Bechtel has now taken a top-five finish in all seven of the individual events she has entered thus far this season.
Another one of the track standouts has been Emily Akin, who had another solid performance in the mile. She ran a 4:53.46 for sixth-place in the event. Another distance runner in Claire Linn had a strong day, compiling a new personal record in the 3000m en route to a top-ten finish of her own. Akin and Bechtel joined Gabby Cossio and Gabby Maslowski on Miami's 4x400 squad, taking eighth place with a run of 3:51.03.
In the field, Grace Rigel set a new PR in the shot put when she tossed a distance of 13.30m. Sarah Bruns got her first action in combined events this season, taking sixth with 3438 points in the pentathlon. She used a first-place finish in the 800m run to propel herself to the strong showing.
After a terrific performance in the distance medley relay yesterday, the men's 4x400 relay team also had a good showing on Saturday. Jacob Matthews, Jeremiah Hunter, Ivan Dye, and Luke Finnegan compiled a time of 3:18.78 and took sixth place. Finnegan did well in the individual 400m too, taking ninth place with a time of 49.06.
Miami will be at Notre Dame next weekend, running at the annual Meyo Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Ohio // Liberty Flames Invite
LYNCHBURG, Va. -- The Ohio track and field team saw three student-athletes tally top-two finishes in their respective events at the Liberty Flames Invite this afternoon at the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.
Sophomore Madelyn Bartolone (Massillon, Ohio) won the 3000-meter run with a time of 11:01.81.
Senior Ashleigh Kitrell (Oakland, Neb.) finished second in the 400-meter dash in 57.12.
Junior Abby Moore (Rootstown, Ohio) turned in a second-place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 19.01 meters, the best mark of her collegiate career. She also took seventh in the shot put with a throw of 13.50 meters.
With the Liberty Flames Invte in the books, Ohio will return to Huntington, W. Va. for the third time during the 2019-20 indoor season, competing in the Marshall Invitational next weekend (Feb. 7-8).
