Ohio split up once again on Friday and Saturday to begin its second weekend of the outdoor season.
Some of the Bobcats traveled to North Carolina to compete in the Raleigh Relays. The rest of the team traveled to Cincinnati to take part in the Oliver Nikolof Open.
Jordan Porter and the 4x1500-meter relay quartet were the only Bobcats to secure top-five finishes at the Raleigh Relays.
Porter led Ohio to a fifth-place finish in the shot put after a throw of 15.18 meters (49.8 feet). Following Porter’s performance, freshman Abby Moore threw for 13.43 meters (44 feet) to place 18th.
Emma Ryan was the catalyst for Ohio in the rest of throwing events. She placed 11th in the discus after throwing 45.07 meters (147.8 feet). She also placed in the hammer throw and javelin.
In the hammer throw, she secured 16th with a 49.43 meter (162.1 feet) launch. Ryan’s best finish of the weekend came in the javelin when she broke through the top ten. She placed 10th with a 41.48 meter (136 feet) fling.
Cassidy Cleland placed in the top 30 in both her throwing events. She placed 29th in the discus and 26th in the hammer. Moore returned from the shot put to place a couple spots above Cleland in the hammer in 23rd. Gaza Odunaiya placed 14th in the discus after throwing 43.27 meters (141.9 feet).
The only other Bobcat to grab a top 30 spot at the Raleigh Relays in the field was Anna Michael. She finished 28th in the long jump.
The success on the track didn’t come as easy for the Bobcats in Raleigh as they struggled to rack up good finishes.
Mya Hodge was a bright spot in the 100-meter hurdles. She placed 14th with a time of 14.74 seconds in a deep 51-competitor field.
Emily Deering placed 14th in the 800-meter run after running two laps in a solid 2:12.83. Alyssa Atkinson finished 27th in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 3:25.00.
The Bobcats fielded four relays in Raleigh. The one distance relay team saw success while the sprint relay teams struggled.
The 4x100-meter relay consisting of Courtney Guiley, Thelma Agyekum, Abby Summers and Hodge placed 14th out of 16 teams. The four clocked one lap in 49.39 seconds.
Olivia Brewer joined Agyekum, Hodge and Summers for the 4x200-meter relay. The team ran 1:43.01 to place 8th of 10 teams. In the 4x400-meter relay, Marissa Handel, Kaitlyn Logan, Melissa Barrett and Deering placed 18th of 23 teams. The quartet’s time was 3:55.20.
The 4x1500-meter relay team contested an impressive run to place fifth in an 11-team field. It was the best finish for an Ohio relay team on the weekend. Josie Woosley, Hailey Bowes, Tiffany Hill and Melissa Koziol ran a 19:12.33.
At the Oliver Nikoloff Open, Ohio had two athletes place in the top 20 of the 1500 meters. Freshman Tate Dawson and senior Christina Seas ran times of 5:00.31 and 5:01.53, respectively.
In the field, senior Tana Barrett led the way for the Bobcats with a seventh-place finish in the high jump. Atiya Spaulding placed 11th and Jessica Liechty finished 12th.
The Bobcats are at home for the first time all year for their next meet this weekend, when they will be celebrating senior day.
The Ohio Cherry Blossom Invitational kicks off at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
