Track & Field | 2/8/2025 12:07:00 AM

Oberlin, Ohio – The Oberlin College track and field teams competed today at the Dan Kinsey Invitational, Oberlin's first home meet of the season. The meet honors former track and field coach Dan Kinsey, the 1924 Olympic champion in the 110m hurdles, who coached at Oberlin from 1926 to 1959. The Crimson and Gold faced local rivals in Baldwin Wallace and Hiram, as well as out-of-state competition from Allegheny, Carlow, and Thiel.
 
Oberlin competed with its fullest squad this season as athletes return from off-campus winter terms. By the end of the night, the women's team had tallied 21 personal bests and 5 conference-qualifying marks, while the men's team produced 22 and 8, respectively. In addition, the men's team chiseled three performances onto the Oberlin all-time top-ten list, while the women's team added one.  
 
The running events started with a bang, as senior Walter Moak broke the school record in the 1,000m with a time of 2:28.71. Senior Jonah Barber paced the race, taking Moak and junior Liam Newman through 400m perfectly in around 58 seconds. After Barber stepped off the track, Moak hammered the crucial middle laps, splitting 1:58 through 800m with Newman in tow. Over the last lap, Moak held on for the win, as Newman finished second in 2:33.25. With his time, Moak took nearly four seconds off of Quinn Hull's 2011 run of 2:32.52. Moak also bested Todd Portune's converted 1,000 yards time of 2:32.11 from 1980. Newman, for his part, landed himself at #4 on Oberlin's all-time list. Sophomore Piers Shirk had hoped to challenge the record as well but was forced to withdraw due to sickness.
 
On the women's side, Sage Serraino won the 1000m in 3:06.14. The time places Serraino at #4 on Oberlin's all-time list. Junior Char Purcell followed close behind Serraino, running 3:13.95 to take third. Amber Borofsky and Solana Pearl followed close behind in 3:17.52 and 3:22.96, respectively. The trio of Purcell, Borofsky, and Pearl all split at or near their 800m PRs en route to the finish. 
 
As the 1,000m is a seldom-contested event, every Oberlin entrant notched a personal best. Since the distance is not contested at the NCAC championships, it has no conference-qualifying mark. 
 
Much of Oberlin's long-distance crew dropped down in distance, testing their speed in the mile and 800m. In the mile, sophomore Will Gordon (4:37.27), senior Danny Markey (4:37.69), sophomore Zosia Mateja (5:47.27), and senior Caleigh Lyons (5:44.97) all ran personal bests. Freshman Geoff Arone made his collegiate debut in 5:04.54, a solid performance after missing the cross country season due to injury. 
 
Markey and Gordon then returned in the 800m, running 2:07.37 and 2:07.81, respectively, in their first collegiate races at the distance. 
 
Doubling back from the 1000m, Purcell and Borofsky also notched personal bests in the 800m. Purcell crossed the line in 2:34.53, with Borofsky back in 2:38.28. On the men's side, Moak doubled back to win the event in 1:57.90, an indoor personal best that places him at #8 on Oberlin's all-time list. Junior Treyce Wood took second in a hard positive split of 1:58.53. Though clearly fit, Wood will likely run faster with more even pacing. Fellow long-sprinter Ezra Taub clocked exactly 2:00.00; with his time, the senior met the conference qualifying mark of 2:01.60. 
 
Running the event fresh, freshman Greydan Villano chopped seven seconds from his personal best, clocking 2:10.03 in the same heat as Markey and Gordon. 
 
Oberlin's lone entrant in the 3000m, junior Charles Endres, won in 8:54.30, cracking nine minutes for the first time this season and meeting the NCAC standard in the event.
 
In the sprints, the Crimson and Gold raced nearly the entire healthy roster in the 60m and 200m. Transitioning from the soccer field to the track, first-years Sawyer Ramberg (8.93 /29.20) and Averi Williams (8.90/30.43) looked promising in their season openers. Fellow first-year Yrva Desormeaux (8.45/27.32) continued her rapid improvement this season, with personal bests in both events. Also in the 60m, first-year Kennedy Maberry ran a personal best of 9.64. Meanwhile, sophomore Melah Lazarus made her collegiate debut, running 31.38 in the 200m. Juniors Ryley Steggall (27.17) and Clara Smith (28.63) turned in season bests in the 200m, Steggall pulling out a win in the event. Junior Anna Fritz ran 9.75 in the 60m hurdles, a season-best and conference-qualifying time.  
 
On the men's side, Reese Hyatt headlined the sprints showing with times of 7.63 and 23.44 in the 60 and 200, respectively. Junior Andres Adams (7.53/25.13), freshman Josiah Howard (7.47/24.65), and freshman Miles Nance (7.64/25.25) also doubled up in the short sprints. Junior Namu Makatiani contested the 60m for the first time in his collegiate career, running 7.53. The race was Makatiani's first collegiate track race without hurdles. Freshman Finlay Graham ran 9.73 in the 60m hurdles and returned with a 25.03 in the 200m, clocking personal bests in both events. 
 
First-year Raluchi Obioha ran 24.76 in the 200m, but doubled upward in distance, also clocking 55.37 in the 400m. Senior Cole Fuller ran 51.31 to take the win in the two-lap race. On the women's side, senior Camila Ciembroniewicz notched a personal best of 1:02.27. 
 
In the field, junior Kit Evans cleared 3.20m in the pole vault, a personal best for the heptathlete. In the sand, Oberlin saw immense success in both the men's and women's pits. Senior Heather Benway finished third overall in the women's field with a solid jump of 4.95m, consistent with her past marks this season, and junior heptathlon Celia Vaughn leapt to a season-best at 4.21m. After the long jump, Fritz made her season debut in the triple jump, leaping 10.11m to a conference qualifying mark putting her currently seventh in the conference. Over in the men's pit, Makatiani continued his success in the sand with a third-place finish in the men's long jump, an indoor personal best, and a conference qualifying mark of 6.61m, putting him second in the conference by only .01 of a meter. Later in the men's triple jump, Oberlin notched a first and third-place finish. Second-year Dane Mentore jumped a season-best and conference qualifying mark of 12.77m for the number one spot. Senior Luke Yates, on his final jump, completed the competition with a 12.03m jump, putting him in third at the last moment. 
 
In the throws, Abraham Cromartie V improved his shot put best by nearly a meter, launching the 16-pound sphere 13.61m. Cromartie's mark easily clears the NCAC standard of 13.18m. With today's throw, Cromartie improves his personal best for the fourth consecutive meet. 

Throws coach Jillian Roberts explained how Cromartie has made such progress this season. "Abraham has been putting together the pieces of the puzzle that we've been working on," Roberts said. Cromartie put it more succinctly. "I just practice," the laconic sophomore said. 
 
Also shot put, Evans threw 10.08m. The throw was a personal best and his first heave over ten meters.
 
On the women's side, first-year Mary Howell threw 9.31m in the weight throw. The toss improved Howell's former best by more than a meter. In the shot, Maddie Farbman threw 7.77m, another personal best.  
 
Head Coach Ben Wach was extremely pleased with today's results. 
 
"Walter breaking the school record was extremely impressive. The fact that Liam was just shy of the school record and that Walter beat him by nearly five seconds is equally impressive. Additionally, the number of people we qualified for the conference championships is thrilling."
 
Oberlin gets back in action next weekend with a jam-packed schedule. On Friday, February 14, select members of the squad will travel north for the weekend to compete in the Grand Valley State Big Meet. The remainder of the team will stay in town and host the Crimson and Gold Invitational at home. The following day, a number of athletes will head south for the All-Ohio Championships in Westerville, Ohio, hosted by Otterbein.

Complete Results
 
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.