7 Firsts … 13 Podiums for Ohio State at B1G Invite

Saturday, April 3

Jacksonville, Fla.

Ohio State

North Florida

7 Firsts … 13 Podiums for Ohio State at B1G Invite

4/3/2021 9:20:00 PM | Men's Track & Field

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It was another fine day for the Ohio State men's and women's track and field teams at the Big Ten North Florida Invitational in Jacksonville, Fla. The Buckeyes added four more wins to their Friday total and finished the two day meet, that featured all of the Big Ten schools, with seven first-place performances, 13 top-three podium finishes and handfuls of personal bests.

Senior Eric Harrison had an absolutely terrific two-days at the University of North Florida's Hodges Stadium. He was unbeaten in four races. Yesterday he qualified first in the 100-meter preliminaries and today he won the 100 in a personal best time of 10.17, he won the 200 in a near-personal best time of 20.52 and he was on the victorious 4×100-meter relay team that won in 39.72 and included Kainnan Ramsey, Adrian Curry and Donnie James.

Senior All-American Anavia Battle was a two-time winner. Competing outdoors for the first time in two years, she won the 100-meter dash in a personal-best time of 11.17 that is also the No. 5 time in the country entering Saturday. And she was on the 4×100-meter relay team that placed first with a time of 44.99. The relay also featured Alexus Pyles, Nya Bussey and Yanique Dayle.

North Florida will host the NCAA Regionals in May, so this is a location many of the Buckeyes hope to see again. This is only the second week of the outdoor season, but there were many reasons to believe that this won't be a one-and-done venue for the Buckeyes. Here are a few more reasons from Saturday:

Ohio State received a terrific start to the day as sophomores Carlos Aviles and Tanner Watson placed third and fourth, respectively in the discus and both set personal bests. Aviles' best went 50.83m / 166-9 and Watson's top throw went 50.4m / 165-6.
Cierra Pyles leapt to a personal best in the triple jump. She flew 12.42/40-9 to take seventh.
There were three personal bests in the 200, which featured 47 competitors: Nya Bussey was 10th overall in 24.59; Byannia Murphy was 11th in 24.60 and Chanler Robinson was 13th in 24.65.
Yanique Dayle qualified for the finals in the 100 and was fifth with a personal best of 11.56.
Adrian Curry was fourth in the 100 with a personal best time of 10.38.
Donnie James was third in the 200 with a personal best time of 20.83.
Luke Bendick and Robby Oswald each soared to personal bests in the pole vault. Bendick went 5.31m / 17-5 to finish second while Oswald went 5.11m / 16-9 1/4 to take fourth.
Senior Frank Hayes was third in the 20-runner 400 field in 48.44.
Divine Oladipo finished fourth in the invitational discus with a throw of 52.35m / 171-9 with Sade Olatoye taking seventh.
Adelaide Aquilla just missed a personal best in placing fourth in the open discus event with a throw of 49.79m / 163-4. She competed in a field of 17.
Nick Regas dropped more than 27 seconds off his previous best in the 3,000 meters to take fourth in 8:31.28.
The women's 4×400-meter relay team took third.