Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College track and field teams enter the 2022-23 season with high expectations and their sights set on a potential men's and women's sweep of the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship.

The Yeowomen are coming off a 2021-22 campaign where they claimed both the indoor and outdoor conference titles, securing its fourth indoor championship in the last five seasons while winning their fourth straight outdoor championship (2017-19, 2022) that they competed in.

However, Oberlin lost some key pieces off the 2022 squad that produced a plethora of points. Distance ace Phoebe von Conta, all-conference performer Aesha Mokashi, and conference championships Anna Scott, Clare Tiedemann, and Malaika Djugu-Sungu have all since graduated to open the door for some fresh faces to step up. 

Thankfully, the cupboard is not bare for longtime Director of Track & Field Ray Appenheimer as the Yeowomen welcome back senior All-Americans Iyanna Lewis and Sarah Voit. Lewis, who was a conference champion last year, set the school record in the weight throw at nationals as her heave of 60-08.00 (18.49m) was good for fourth in the nation. Voit continued her dominance in the pole vault, finishing second in the country with a school-best clearance of 12-11.50 (3.95m). 

"We're excited to have so many returners who have scored at the conference level," Appenheimer said. "This is going to be a different team than last year's and we're going to rely heavily on our depth. A conference championship is going to be won by qualifying as many athletes as we can and it's going to be a total team effort."
 
Senior Chilly Wallace, who earned All-NCAC honors in the triple jump and 100-meter hurdles last year, will be someone who is going to be heavily relied upon in both sprints and jumps, while junior Hayden Hill also brings added versatility with the ability to produce points in multiple events.

Oberlin's long standing throwing success is now being directed by new assistant coach Jillian Roberts who inherits a unit that features Lewis along with fellow seniors Victoria Blair, Shayla Keegan, Jenna Frizzell, and junior Abby Cannon. 

In addition to Lewis' success, Cannon also earned All-NCAC honors in the weight throw and shot put a season ago. 

Junior Eliza Medearis and sophomore Sage Reddish headline Oberlin's distance corps along with sophomore Margo Lee, who was a part of the team's DMR title last year. 

The Yeomen, who won the 2022 NCAC Cross Country Championship, would love to replicate that success on the indoor oval this winter. 

NCAA national qualifier Walter Moak headlines the distance group with his eyes set on the school record in the mile and another All-NCAC performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Sophomore classmate Jonah Barber and junior Sam Russ should also be in line to post a lot of points in the distance events come conference time. 

Oberlin is blessed to return conference champions Zac Ntia and Zack Lee. Ntia took the NCAC title weight throw and was third in the shot put indoors. The senior from Wooster, Ohio, later earned NCAC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year honors. A senior from New York City, Lee is looking to defend his conference crown in the outdoor triple jump. 

"This might be the deepest men's team we've had in my time at Oberlin," Appenheimer noted. "Coming off the conference championship in cross country I'm not going to put any limits on what this team can achieve. Their work this fall has been awesome and I can't wait to see them compete this week."

Sophomore Cole Fuller capped off his rookie season with All-NCAC honors in the 400-meters hurdles outdoors and looks to pick up where he left off in both the sprints and hurdle events. 

Junior Jon Dromlewicz, sophomore Kambinachi Obioha, and newcomers Kit Evans, Treyce Wood, and Josh Moray join Fuller and Lee on the sprints unit that could surprise many conference foes this year. 

Junior Jake Jarvis could be in line for breakout season in the jumping events alongside rookie Namu Makatiani as they join Lee and Evans on the jumps force while Isaiah Schuham-Anders, Cristian Jimenez, and senior Theo Haviland provided additional support in the throwing events. 

Oberlin opens its season on Saturday, December 3, at the Case Western Reserve University Spartan Holiday Classic. The NCAC Indoor Championships are set for February 24-25 on the campus of DePauw University.