Men's Track and Field | 2/15/2025 10:02:00 PM

Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College track and field teams took on strong competition at two selective meets today. The bulk of the team competed at the All-Ohio Championships at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. Meanwhile, a small group of athletes raced at Grand Valley State University's Big Meet in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Between the two meets, the women's team tallied four conference-qualifying marks and two personal bests, while the men's team totaled four and three, respectively. In addition, the men's team landed four new marks on Oberlin's all-time top-ten list, including two school records.
 
The first school record fell in Michigan, as the men's distance medley relay of Piers Shirk, Cole Fuller, Treyce Wood, and Walter Moak clocked 10:00.08 to take second place in their heat, and eleventh overall. The distance medley relay consists of four legs of different distances (1200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m). In the NCAA it is an official event only during the indoor season. Today's Yeomen squad improved the former record of 10:09.93, set at the same meet last year.
 
Shirk opened the race for the Yeomen, splitting 3:02 over 1200m in his first race over that distance. As the 1200m is never run as an individual event, it can be a challenging race to pace. The sophomore did so expertly, however, and handed off at the front of the pack. 
 
Fuller took the baton for the 400m leg, splitting 50 seconds while leading for much of his race.
 
Wood then delivered a strong 800m in 1:57. The junior ran a mild positive split, keeping the Yeomen just off the leader's shoulder.
 
On the anchor leg, Moak received the baton in third and closed the gap to the leaders over the first 400m. After easing into second, Moak ran just behind the leader for the middle laps. With 300m to go, the senior made his bid for the win, surging to the lead on the last lap. Only one team slipped past Moak on the homestretch, as the Yeoman crossed the line at a whisker over ten minutes. Moak's 1600m split of 4:11 was by far his best mile race of his career. 
 
Moak and Shirk returned later for the open mile, running quick times of 4:18.10 and 4:23.18 on tired legs. Moak's time was a second off of his own school record, while Shirk's ranks him #6 in school history. 
 
Fuller returned in the 200m, running an indoor best of 22.75. The time lands Fuller at #5 on Oberlin's all-time indoor list. 
 
Back in Ohio, Namu Makatiani stole the show in the triple jump, leaping to an indoor school record of 14.41m on his final jump. The junior bettered Kofi Asare's 2022 mark of 14.18m by a large margin, and vaulted himself to #8 in Division III this year. Although the national rankings are not final until March, Makatiani stands a chance at qualifying for the national championships, as last year's cut-off was 14.35m. In addition to his school record jump, Makatiani added four other attempts over 14 meters. 
 
Also in the triple jump, sophomore Dane Mentore notched a new personal best, taking sixth place with a jump of 12.94m. This keeps him squarely at second in the conference, behind only Makatiani. Meanwhile in the long jump, senior Heather Benway leapt a season best of 5.10m. After squeaking into finals, Benway sped down the runway for her fourth jump, which earned her an eighth place finish in the event. 
 
On the track, Oberlin competed sparingly in the meet's deep fields. Makatiani produced another podium performance in the 60m hurdles, finishing second in 8.34 seconds. In the preliminary round, Makatiani clocked 8.29 to tie his school record in that event. Following him, both Sage Serraino and Camila Ciembroniewicz ran swift races in the 800m. Both ran season bests, with Ciembroniewicz hitting a personal best of three seconds for 2:22.36. In the following heat, Serraino kicked to third place in a season best of 2:20.81.

Oberlin's sole distance entrant, senior captain Caleigh Lyons hit a seven second personal best in the women's 3,000m run, finishing in 11:09.90 for seventh place. Bringing the meet to a close, the women's 4x400m finished fourth in a season best of 4:12.64. The team of Serraino, Ciembroniewicz, junior Ryley Steggall, and first-year Yrva Desormeaux, secured a great position for conference seeding and lane assignment. 
 
Head Coach Ben Wach believes the team is well prepared for the coming conference championships. "Any day that we rewrite the record book is a great day!" Wach said. "Breaking two records and tieing another within a couple hours was thrilling, and gives us incredible momentum for the postseason." 
 
The team competes again next weekend at Case Western Reserve University for the Ed Finnigan Greater Cleveland Colleges Invitational. Meanwhile, Oberlin will host the NCAC Combined Events Championship on Saturday, February 22, and Sunday, February 23. Juniors Kit Evans and Celia Vaughn will represent the Crimson and Gold in the NCAC Combined Events Championship.
 
Fans can keep up with their favorite teams on Instagram, Facebook, X, or TikTok, and watch all the home matches live online. The Crimson and Gold's home broadcasts can be accessed on TV through the official Oberlin College Sports Network app on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.