Track & Field | 2/7/2026 12:09:00 AM

Oberlin, Ohio - The Oberlin College track and field teams competed 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 and was later inducted into the Oberlin Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987. This year's Dan Kinsey Invitational was Oberlin's LGBTQ+ pride meet as well. Oberlin competed against local rivals Baldwin Wallace and Marietta, as well as Allegheny and Hiram. The women's team produced 19 personal bests and one conference qualifying mark, while the men's team delivered 18 and six, respectively.
 
The night began with the field events, with women's and men's triple jump going simultaneously. Namu Makatiani continued his strong senior campaign, taking the event win with a mark of 14.52m. Fresh off of NCAC Athlete of the Week honors, third-year Dane Mentore soared to a personal best of 13.59m to finish just behind Makatiani. Daniel Ambar (11.91m) and CJ Cooper (10.47m) rounded out the personal bests to start the momentum of the meet for the Yeomen.

The long jumps took over the pits after the triple jump, with fourth-year Anna Fritz launching to a huge personal best of 5.39m to win the event and move even closer to the top of Oberlin's All-Time List. Second-year Averi Williams also came away with a personal best in the long jump, flying to a mark of 4.44m.

Following the momentum of the jumps, Abraham Cromartie V continued his hot streak in the weight throw. The third-year broke his previous personal best by a meter, launching the weight 15.50m to continue his assault on Oberlin's All-Time list in the event. Second-year Judah Moenoa joined Cromartie with a personal best in the weight throw, chucking it 13.64m.

Not to be outdone, the women's weight throw squad also had a string of personal bests. First-year Quinn Hardy (11.17m), second-year Mary Howell (10.86m), first-year Adriana Winkelmayer (8.95m), and first-year Kate Budde (7.97m) all hurled the weight to personal best distances.

Kicking things off on the track, second-year Samantha Soto led the Yeowomen in the mile, taking the win in a personal best of 5:36. First-year Mirabel Adams was just back, running a 5:41 for a personal best of her own. Rounding out the mile personal bests was fourth-year Serafina Yan, claiming a best of 6:14.

Matching Soto, third-year Piers Shirk led the Yeomen in the mile and took the win in 4:25, notching that conference-qualifying mark. Closing hard behind Shirk was his classmate Will Gordon, dropping down in distance to polish his mile and coming away with a personal best of 4:31. Continuing their teamwork from last week, the second-year duo of Grant Hirsch (4:47) and Daniel Beyda (4:49) both achieved personal bests. Toby Wells-Spackman joined his classmates with a personal best of his own, running 4:55 to dip under the 5:00-minute barrier for the first time in his career. 

Third-year Armand Andry won the men's 400m in a time of 51.86, while first-year Simon Swai claimed a personal best of 56.53. 

In the women's 60m dash, Sawyer Ramberg (8.39) and Val Harris (8.50) notched a pair of personal bests. The men's 60m followed the women's, with a pair of personal bests for Suryansh Yadav (7.21) and CJ Cooper (7.67). 

In the women's 800m, fourth-year Amber Borofsky ran a new personal best of 2:29, while first-year Sofia Picucci ran a debut time of 2:50. 

The men's 800m followed, where first-year Cooper Tanski and fourth-year Liam Newman duked it out in a tight race, with personal-bests of 1:57 and 1:58m respectively. Tanski's time earned him a spot on Oberlin's All-Time list in the event. First-year Casey Smothers and second-year Greydan Villano also had a photo finish with the first-year running their debut of 2:06.19 and the second-year running a personal best of 2:06.20.

Tanski, reflecting on his 800m success, looks forward to building momentum. "I'm very happy with the result. The 800 was very much a rust buster—the feeling and cadence of an 800 is very different from any other race, so getting into it for the first time this season was important."

First-year Dylan Davis ran a personal best of 28.11 in the 200m, with first-year Val Harris just on her heels, running a personal best of 28.19. For the men's 200m, Yadav (23.83) and Andres Adam (24.44) snagged a couple of personal bests.

Continuing the momentum of a standout year, Chelsea Larsen won the women's 3,000m in a debut best of 11:08. Second-year Solana Pearl was close behind, effectively soloing an 11-second personal best of 11:20. First-year Zoe Engel closed out the 3000m for the Crimson and Gold, running a debut best of 12:55. 

In the men's 4x400m, the Oberlin A-team consisting of Tang, Buckman, Bell-Torres, and Tanski took first in an electric finish. Their efforts earned the squad a season record of 3:32.

Head Coach Ben Wach reflected very positively on the meet. "That was exactly what you hope for from a home meet, literally seeing new PRs from the very first event to the very last," Wach adds. "The team brought so much energy, and so many friends, into the fieldhouse, and left with a ton of momentum to carry us into championship season."

Oberlin will return to Heisman Field House in one week, on Friday, February 13, to host the Crimson and Gold Invitational. Field events kick off the meet at 5 p.m. with running events scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. 

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