Men's Track and Field | 4/5/2025 9:51:00 PM

Wooster, Ohio - The Oberlin College track and field teams competed yesterday and today at the Wooster Invitational. The teams took on competition from the in-conference hosts, as well as from John Carroll, Lake Erie, Otterbein, and Olivet. Conditions were fair: Friday was cold and cloudy, and Saturday brought warmer temperatures and mizzling rain. The women's team earned ten personal bests and six NCAC-qualifying marks, while the men's team notched nineteen and two, respectively. 
 
Heather Benway headlined Oberlin's efforts in the field, winning the long jump in a personal best of 5.25m. Jumping into a slight headwind, Benway took the lead on her final attempt to win by just a centimeter, jumping back and forth with the second-place finisher from Mount Union for the entire finals sequence. Today's mark ranks the senior ninth in school history, and second in the conference this outdoor season. 
 
In the throws ring, sophomore Abraham Cromartie V and freshman Judah Moenoa each launched new personal bests in the discus and hammer. Cromartie added two meters to his discus best (35.76m) and over four in the hammer (37.37m), while Moenoa landed marks at 26.55 and 30.77, respectively. In addition, junior Ella Wozek threw a personal best of 7.95m in the shot put. 
 
Competing on Wooster's grass runway, senior Carson Franks and junior Andres Adam threw personal bests in the javelin. Franks pierced the ground at 37.25, with Adam at 33.14. 
 
In the high jump, decathlete Kit Evans cleared the bar at 1.57m for a new personal best.
 
On the track, Ryley Steggall led the Yeowomen in the short sprints, clocking season bests in the 100m at 12.75 for third, and in the 200m at 26.56. The junior's times met the conference standards in both events. First-year Sawyer Ramberg logged personal bests in the same events at 13.47 and 27.99. 
 
On the men's side, Reese Hyatt added season bests in 11.26 and 22.63. Fellow senior Cole Fuller completed the same double in 11.30 and 22.81. In the other heats, Josiah Howard (12.09) and Dane Mentore (12.16) made their collegiate debuts in the 100m. 
 
Doubling upward in distance, Yrva Desormeaux clinched a pair of personal bests in the 200m and 400m. Desormeaux clocked 26.88 in the 200m, improving her former best by nearly half a second. The race was Desormeaux's first trip under 27 seconds. In addition, the first-year met the conference standard in the 400m with a run of 62.37. 
 
In the 400m hurdles, senior Lillian McFarlin made her collegiate debut in 1:19.83. 
 
In the middle distance races, sophomore Char Purcell and senior Caleigh Lyons each snagged personal bests in the 1500m. Purcell crossed the line in 5:03.63, with Lyons back at 5:11.60. Lyons' time cleaved half a minute from her former best, while Purcell raced the event for the first time. Both athletes' times convert to faster times than their indoor mile bests.
 
On the men's side, first-year Geoff Arone ran a personal best of 4:38.54. The time converts to three seconds faster than his indoor mile. 
 
Seniors Sage Serraino and Camila Ciembroniewicz led the way in the women's 800m. The duo felt asthmatic during the warmup, and started the race in the back of the field. The pair moved up over the two-lap race, as Serraino won in 2:18.06 and Ciembroniewicz took second in 2:21.77. Both runners met the NCAC standard of 2:23.44. 
 
In the third heat of the 800m, first-years Solana Pearl (2:34.72) and Sam Soto (2:34.73) dueled all the way to the line, as Pearl out-leaned Soto by a hundredth of a second. Both Pearl and Soto set new personal bests. Back for more after the 1500m, junior Amber Borofsky ran just shy of her 800m best, finishing in 2:38.53 while battling a lingering illness
 
Also doubling back from the 1500m, senior Danny Markey and freshman Grant Hirsch notched personal bests in the 800m, running 2:07.33 and 2:16.22, respectively. Freshman Toby Wells-Spackman also claimed a personal best, finishing in 2:13.55. 
 
Senior Walter Moak returned to his signature event, winning the men's 3000m steeplechase in 9:17.67 to break a 23-year-old stadium record. That time is the fastest in the conference this year. Behind Moak, Liam Newman crossed the line in 9:44.51. The time marks a personal best for the junior, and ranks him ninth on Oberlin's all-time list. Both men surpassed the conference standard in the event. 
 
Closing the day in the 5000m, junior Charles Endres and sophomore Will Gordon clocked 15:44 and 15:56, respectively. Endres closed hard for a season best, while Gordon dipped under sixteen minutes for the first time in his career.
 
Head Coach Ben Wach noted Moak, Benway, and Desormeaux as the day's standout performers. "It's always great to have a conference-leading mark, so Walter's steeplechase was a great way to start the track events," Wach said. "Heather showed a great competitive mindset in the long jump, and it was exciting to see Yrva run personal bests in the flat events. Hopefully that will translate to the hurdles soon."  
 
Next week, the team will head to the All-Ohio Championships at Ohio Wesleyan University. Events start at 6:30pm on Friday, April 11th and at 11:00am on Saturday, April 12th. 
 
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.