Oilers Kickoff Indoor Season | Strong Showing at Oiler Opener
Findlay, Ohio- The University of Findlay track and field teams kicked off their indoor seasons this weekend with the Oiler Opener which they hosted both yesterday, Dec. 1 and today, Dec. 2. The field featured teams from every NCAA Division as it boasted some of the region's best talent.
Women
Picking up where she left off last season was sophomore Trista Fintel. Fintel took first in the shot put with an NCAA provisional mark of 14.98m which came on her first attempt. Coming in fourth in the event was senior Paige Emnett who also reached the provisional mark with a throw of 13.96m. Trista Fintel later took fifth in the weight throw with a mark of 17.93m coming on her fourth attempt.
For the Oilers, as has been the case for the past couple of seasons, the women's pole vault has been a marquee event and that proved true again on Friday. Findlay's top finisher was senior Lindsey Kluesener who took first with a height of 3.70m which surpassed the NCAA provisional mark in the event. Close behind was newcomer, freshman Natalie Newton who took third by clearing 3.55m.
In other field event action, the Oilers took second, third, and fourth in the high jump. Senior Alexa Fries cleared 1.62m to take second, freshman Ashley Sigmon took third also clearing 1.62m, and sophomore Kassandra Stine finished third at 1.57m.
Highlighting the night for the Oilers was senior Simone Green. Green, who finished first in the long jump with a mark of 5.99m, shattered the school record that was set in 2008. Kirby Blackley Overton, a standout for the Oilers, set the record with a jump of 5.91m fourteen years ago. Her distance tonight also meets the provisional mark. Simone Green now holds the indoor record in both the long jump and triple jump. She also owns the record in the outdoor triple jump. Also competing in the long jump was junior Madison Myers who took second with a jump of 5.68m which meets the provisional mark.
Sophomore Jessica Hoban took second in the triple jump with a mark of 10.97m. Madison Myers took third in the same event with a distance of 10.80 while freshman Katelyn Heath took fourth at 10.51m.
On the track, junior Kylie Ray, who has already proven herself as a top competitor in her young career, took first in the 60m hurdles with an NCAA provision time of 8.81 seconds. Taking third in the same event was freshman Amelia Mizelle who finished third with a time of 9.19 seconds. Senior Kenedi Hayden finished fourth with a time of 9.23 seconds.
Junior Jordan Taylor finished first in the 60m dash with a provisional time of 7.60 seconds. Sophomore Nicole Fishpaw took third with a time of 7.85 seconds. Taylor also finished first in the 200m dash as she clocked in at 25:28. Fishpaw finished with a time of 26.17 to take third.
Kylie Ray then picked up where she left off, winning the 400m dash with a time of 58.24 seconds to edge out teammate senior Bethany Smith by 0.20 seconds as Smith finished in 58.44 seconds.
The Oilers had the top three finishers in the 800m run as senior Hayley Robinett led the way clocking in at 2:21.98. Sophomore Mackenzie Schneider took second with a time of 2:29.23 while sophomore Anna Kluesener took third at 2:42.75.
The team of Bethany Smith, Peyton Heitmeyer, Taylor Ivory, and Kylie Ray took first in the 4x400 relay in which they edged out Hillsdale by 0.31 seconds by recording a time of 3:59.10.
Reilly Cozette ran the one mile race in 5:11.41 to take first in the event while junior Maya Hamsher took third clocking in at 5:24.16.
Men
On day one of the event senior Keandre Marlow took second in the heptathlon. His mark of 4776 meets the NCAA provisional mark. Sophomore Gabe Clement Came in fourth in the event.
Representing the throwers was senior Max Prenger who took second place in the shot put with a mark of 15.85m which came on his first attempt. In fact, Prenger faulted four of the six attempts. He took fourth in the weight throw with a throw of 17.62m.
Senior Gabe Makin, an all-American last season, finished first in the pole vault, clearing a provisional standard height of 4.91m. Senior Jacob Michael finished second while junior Alex Mutchler took third as both cleared a height of 4.76m.
Continuing with field events, senior Cameron Stine took first in the high jump with a mark of 2.00m. Sophomore Zeke Halker came in fourth with a distance of 1.80m.
In the long jump, sophomore Chris Campbell took first with a mark of 7.09m. Sophomore Mason Smith finished third in the same event with a distance of 6.61m. Sophomore Omari Welch-Guytan headlined the triple jump with a mark of 13.85 to take first place in the event. Sophomore Mondra Curry came in second with a jump of 13.63m.
On the track, senior Ethan Pensante took third in the 60m dash with a time of 7.10 seconds. Chris Campbell came in fourth in the same event with a time of 7.11 seconds.
In the 400m dash, senior Nick Rice took first place with a time of 49.44 seconds to edge out teammate senior Xavier Marable who finished second with a time of 49.60 seconds.
Junior Joe Sadowski took second in the 800m run with a time of 2:00.12. Freshman Isaiah Cook took fourth clocking in at 2:08.48.
Senior Josh Verhoff met the NCAA provisional time in the 200m dash as he came in first with a time of 21.61 seconds. Freshman Sherron Jones finished second in the event with a mark of 22.34 seconds.
The team of Xavier Marable, Dylan Reason, Sherron Jones, and Nick Rice took first in the 4x400m relay. They finished nearly four seconds ahead of Hillsdale's team.
Findlay's distance runners swept the top-spots across the board. Senior Nick DeHaven was the top runner in the mile as he finished first by over 20 seconds. He clocked in at 4:19.93. Alex Albers took first in the 3000m run with a time of 8:57.91. Junior Colin Moats finished second in the same event with a time of 8:59.78.
The Oilers will be back in action Friday, Jan. 13 as they travel to Hillsdale, Mich. for the Hillsdale Tri-Meet.