YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio. – Jimmie Williams blew the roof off of the 2022 Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Championships as the Oakland University Men's and Women's Track & Field team completed competition on Sunday with school, league, and facility records broken by Golden Grizzly athletes.
Azsah Bradley put points on the board for Oakland in both the Women's 60m and 200m dashes with third and fifth-place performances of 7.54 and 25.03 seconds, respectively. Payton Sabourin took fourth in the Women's 400m stopping watches in 56.73 seconds as Rose Philogene grabbed third in the Women's 60m Hurdles with a mark of 8.58 seconds.
Williams started his big day in the Men's 200m with a school record time plus Horizon League and facility record time of 21.28 seconds, doubling to do the same in the Men's 400m to break his previous school record (set yesterday) at 46.54 seconds.
Maddi Leigh and Ashley Quinn went second and third in the Women's 800m with times of 2:12.49 and 2:12.75, respectively. Ellie Voetberg then posted third in the Women's 3000m run as the freshman went under ten minutes with a time of 9:57.90. Voetberg then doubled in the Women's 5000m for third with a 17:10.14.
William Harrell and Terrance Brooks Jr hit second and third in the Men's 800m .2 seconds apart at 1:54.10 and 1:54.30, respectively. Yami Albrecht wasted no time in the Men's Mile in 4:09.11 as Connor Geotz came back in the Men's 3000m for first and ten points for OU at 8:21.99.
The Women's 4x400m Relay of Makiya Worthy, Leigh, Briana Walker, and Sabourin posted a time of 3:52.28 for a second-place finish as the Women's Distance Medley Relay took fourth in 12:21.67 with the squad of Brooke Hinkelman, Meghan Earles, Madison Brown, and Erin Hegarty.
The Men's 4x400m Relay team of Ray Braziel, Justin Kudera, Gabriel Singh, and Williams broke three records with their time of 3:10.82: school record, league record, and facility record (the third one for Williams).
In the jumps, Lotte Houtman posted second and fifth in the Women's High Jump and Pole Vault for Oakland, respectively, with marks of 1.68m (5'6") and 3.39m (11'1.5"). Philogene would go on to be fourth in the Women's Long Jump at 5.63m (18'5.75") while Alexis Hunter finished third in the Women's Triple Jump finals with a distance of 11.86m (38'11") to break her own school record.
Alex Hugh-Plott placed second in the Men's High Jump with a height of 2.08m (6'9.75") ahead of Zach Webb and Chase VanSickle in third and fourth in the same event.
Gabriella Cyriax went on to take third in the Women's Weight Throw with a heave of 17.07m (56'0") in the throws.
In the Men's Heptathlon, Markeal Williams compiled 4,453 points for third.
With the conclusion of the meet, the Horizon League announced its Indoor Track and Field Specialty Awards as Williams was named the Championship Outstanding Performer on the men's side while Voetberg was named Freshman of the Year for the Women.
Women's Specialty Awards
Alfreeda Goff Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Natalie Block, Milwaukee
Championship Outstanding Performer, Running: Nicole Squatrito, Youngstown State
Championship Outstanding Performer, Fielding: Natalie Block, Milwaukee
Freshman of the Year, Running: Ellie Voetberg, Oakland
Freshman of the Year, Fielding: Julia Pohl, Northern Kentucky
Coach of the Year: Brian Gorby, Youngstown State
Men's Specialty Awards
Alfreeda Goff Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Sean Peterson, Youngstown State
Championship Outstanding Performer, Running: Jimmie Williams, Oakland
Championship Outstanding Performer, Fielding: Austin Wallace, Milwaukee
Freshman of the Year, Running: Eilijah Major, Detroit Mercy
Freshman of the Year, Fielding: Elijah Nelson, Youngstown State
Coach of the Year: Brian Gorby, Youngstown State
The Oakland women finished third out of 11 teams with 111 points while the men finished third of eight with 122.5 points, respectively. Host Youngstown State swept both team titles while Milwaukee sat second in both standings.
Williams' 400m time has him in the top 29 of the NCAA performance list as the grad student looks forward to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
