Ohio State
SPIRE B1G Invite
Buckeyes Warming Into Indoor Season at SPIRE
2/12/2021 6:13:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
COLUMBUS, Ohio – It may be a little nippy outside in Ohio in February, but indoors things are heating up for the track and field teams at Ohio State University, which are competing in the two-day SPIRE Institute Big Ten Invite in Geneva, Ohio this weekend. How warm? Dig this: Sade Olatoye, competing for the first time this winter, won the weight throw competition by over 15 feet with a throw – 23.4m/76-9 ¼ – that is the farthest throw in the nation this year, by over four feet!
Good news for throwers nationally, Olatoye has exhausted her indoor eligibility and will compete unattached through the indoor season, but then return for one last outdoor season where she will, no doubt, continue to cement her legacy as one of the great, great student-athletes in Ohio State history.
How warm? Senior Anavia Battle, whose terrific career sprinting as a Buckeye mirrors Olatoye's field event prowess, won for the fifth time in six races this year with a 200-meters time of 22.88 that is only merely the second-fastest time in the nation this year.
The Buckeyes are hot, but there was no sweat emanating from the men's 200-meter sprint team, a unit that bullied and burst its way into four of the top six times in the 200 with Tyler Johnson picking up his third win of the winter in a time of 20.99. Praise Olatoke (2nd/21.21), Eric Harrison (5th/21.39) and Donnie James (6th/21.53) left no doubt who was No. 1 in the 200 in a meet that featured competitors from seven other Big Ten schools: Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, Rutgers, Iowa, Indiana and Nebraska.
Temperatures were rising at the pole vault pit, as well as three pole vaulters set personal bests on Saturday. Robert Oswald took first for the men, winning with a vault of 5.35m/17-6 ½ while Luke Bendick cleared 5.05m/16-6 ¾ for third place. Abbey Kuhn went up and over at 3.60m/11-9 ¾. Oswald's effort puts him in the Top 12 nationally in 2021.
The wins didn't stop there nor did the Buckeye highlights, as competitors up and down both team's rosters continue to warm into this indoor season. And that's too cool! A sampling:
- Frank Hayes topped 13 other runners with a winning time of 1:18.33 in the 600 for this first victory of the young season. Right there with Hayes and finishing in third was Cameron Cooper in 1:18.61.
- Aziza Ayoub led the Ohio State middle-distance runners with a fourth-place effort at 600 meters in 1:33.09.
- Andrea Kuhn placed seventh in a 16-runner 5,000 in a time that lands just outside of the nation's Top 20 … a personal-best 16:41.00, good for 21st nationally.
- All three Buckeyes running with Kuhn in the 5,000, in fact, ran personal bests. Daniella Santos finished in 17:03.44, Hannah Moulton PR'd at 17:19.53 and Erica Francesconi finished in 17:28.13.
- Garrett Doyle was the runner-up in the weight throw with a toss of 18.21 meters or 59-9.
The competition continues Saturday with 20 more events, capped by men's and women's 4×400 relay races that start at 4:20 p.m.
Players Mentioned
