Track & Field | 2/28/2026 9:29:00 PM

Springfield, Ohio – The Crimson and Gold competed in the second and final day of the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships today. Both the women's and men's teams notched seven personal bests with a quartet of All-Conference performances. The men's team ended the championship with 61 points, placing sixth, while the women's team scored 15 for seventh.

Starting the day strong for the Yeomen, Namu Makatiani continued his record-breaking streak, breaking his own school record in the men's triple jump and clinching the championship title. Makatiani flew to a mark of 14.91m, shattering the conference record of 14.45m that stood for 24 years, set by Ohio Wesleyan's Craig Neeley. 

The fourth-year shared his thoughts on the day: "I'm very happy with my performance today and especially with all the support from my team. It's bittersweet to compete in my last indoor conference, but I'm excited to see what's to come indoors and outdoors." Makatiani's jump currently ranks him ninth in Division III.

Following Makatiani's example, Dane Mentore and Michael Dolton leapt to personal bests of their own, with Mentore jumping 13.63m for fourth place and Dolton leaping 12.82m.

In the women's shot put, Alira Allen and Quinn Hardy literally continued their upward momentum, with Allen launching the shot a personal-best distance of 9.45m and Hardy heaving it to a personal best of 9.22m.

The women's 4x200m relay got things started on the track, with the team of Yrva Desormeaux, Sawyer Ramberg, Dylan Davis, and Anna Fritz running a season-best mark of 1:46.42.

The men's 4x200m relay followed the women's, with the squad of Euan Uliassi, Suryansh Yadav, George Buckman, and Raluchi Obioha also running a season best of 1:32.10.

Char Purcell and Mirabel Adams rounded out their season of racing together with two huge personal bests in the women's mile. Both runners broke 5:30 for the first time, with Purcell running an eight-second personal best of 5:22 and Adams running a seven-second personal best of 5:26.

In the men's mile, Liam Newman ran a personal best of 4:18, moving to third on Oberlin's All-Time List. Just behind Newman was Cooper Tanski, who continued a standout first-year season, running 4:19 for a four-second personal best and moving to fourth on Oberlin's All-Time List. 

In the women's 800m, Ella Wozek built off of her effort from yesterday, running an even faster time to bring home another personal best of 2:16 and taking bronze in finals and earning All-Conference honors. Reflecting on her feelings from the race, Wozek shared, "The women's 800m final was the most intense, harrowing, and exhilarating race I could have imagined it to be. Today was a testament to months of hard work and belief—the belief I have had in myself after returning from injury, and the belief that I felt from my coaches and teammates all weekend and all season. I am so excited for all this positive momentum to carry over into the outdoor season."

In the women's 3000m, Amber Borofsky and Lieke Everts ran a strong tandem race, exchanging the lead a couple of times to push each other to personal bests. Borofsky closed hard for an eight-second personal best of 10:47. Everts was just back, dipping under 11:00 for the first time with a 15-second personal best of 10:53.

The men's 3000m saw strong performances from the duo of Yeomen Piers Shirk and Newman, who doubled back after the mile. The two worked together throughout the race, enabling both to podium, taking silver and bronze with times of 8:36 and 8:37, respectively.

Both men and women's 4x400 teams competed fiercely for season's bests. The women's team, composed of Desormeaux, Val Harris, Clara Smith, and Wozek ran a 4:13. The men's relay of Armand Andry, George Buckman, Kai Bell-Torres, and Tanski ran a 3:23.

Head Coach Ben Wach was extremely happy with the team's performance this weekend. "Namu and Ella obviously led the way, and the whole team was able to follow their path; the team did a pretty complete overhaul of their personal bests this weekend and our whole coaching staff was thrilled to get to watch them do it."

Select individuals will compete next Saturday, March 7, at the Polar Bear Final Qualifier, hosted by Ohio Northern University. Field events start at noon, with running events kicking off at 1 p.m.

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