Women's Track and Field | 5/16/2024 10:01:00 PM

OBERLIN, OH- Working tirelessly this past week to set new personal bests in an effort to qualify for the NCAA National Championships, select members of the Oberlin College men's and women's track and field teams wrap up competition in a handful of 'last chance' meets.
 
Beginning in Pennsylvania on Monday, May 13, Hayden Hill, Cole Fuller, and Kambi Obioha competed at the Widener Final Qualifier.
 
Setting the tone of the day with an incredible time in the 800m dash, Obioha crossed the finish line at 1:51.91 to break the nine-year-old record. The sprinter's speedy race moved him up to 47^th in the NCAA. In the men's 400m hurdles race, Fuller (54.07) finished inside the top five but was unable to best his NCAC Championship time to improve on his national rank (#34).
 
Rounding out the competition in Widener was Hill in the women's high jump event. The senior jumper cleared 1.57m (5-01.75) but is still well short of the expected qualifying clearance of 1.69m (5-06.50).
 
Picking up the last ditch efforts to qualify, Walter Moak competed in the 3,000m steeplechase at the Augustana Invite on Wednesday, May 15. The NCAC Champion in the 3k steeplechase ran an incredible time of 8:57.02, breaking his school record from last week and improving to 11^th in the country.
 
At the Augustana Invite the following day, Thursday, May 16, Obioha nearly eclipsed his 400m PR but came up just. 04 short at 48.55. The soon-to-be graduate earned a top-ten finish but is unlikely to qualify for the NCAA 400m race.
 
Fuller competed in the 400m hurdles event again, but the junior couldn't max out his race and finished 21^st overall with a time of 56.68. Hill represented the Yeowomen in the high jump, finishing seventh overall after clearing 1.53m (5-00.25). The fourth year finished well below her current PR of 1.61m.
 
Capping off the exciting Augustana Invite, the relay team of Obioha, Fuller, Sam Fechner, and Armand Andry competed in the 4x400m relay. The team sprinted through the finish line at 3:15.41 to surpass their previous best and move up in the national rankings.
 
Namu Makatiani finished the week at the Mount Union Last Chance Meet on Thursday
evening. The second-year posted a 14.19m (46-06.75) mark in the men's triple jump, falling just short of his personal best. Fortunately, Makatiani's PR of 14.58m (47-10.00) has him at 18^th in the country ahead of the final cuts.
 
Oberlin's athletes now await a release from the NCAA with the final list of qualifiers, expected to be announced on Friday evening.
 
Fans can watch all the home matches live online. Home contests can be accessed on a TV through the official Oberlin College Sports Network app on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.