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UNLEASH THE GRIZZ

Oakland University Athletics

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GG Invite

Track & Field Jordan Nelson

Track and Field Closes Regular Season with Strong Showing at Elaine Leigh Invite

ROCHESTER, Mich. - The Golden Grizzlies wrapped up the 2024 outdoor season with a two-day finale meet at home for the Elaine Leigh Invite.

Day 1

Day one hosted a large bevy of high school and collegiate events. The day started with the field events. In the women's pole vault Oakland junior Alexa Messina earned the top spot, vaulting a height of 3.55m. Sophomore Victoria Sanders placed fourth, leaping 2.95m.

Next came the hammer throw, where the Golden Grizzlies saw even more top five finishes. In the women's hammer throw, sophomore Jamie Giese earned a gold spot, leading the field with a best throw of 46.10m that broke her personal record, while freshman Elizabeth Rice followed closely behind in third place with a personal-high toss of 44.28m. On the men's side, Oakland earned three of the top four spots, taking spots two through four as Blake Foster (52.27m) set the longest throw of his career, Romario Jackson placed third (51.28m), and Alex Mansfield fourth (42.53m). 

To finish off the field events for the day, Jake Kaupp earned second place in the men's javelin throw with a launch of 44.52m and Justin Kudera did the same in the men's long jump with a leap of 6.36m.

On the track Oakland closed out the day with a pair of events, speeding through the 5000m and 1500m races, two of Oakland's strongest events. On the women's side, the Golden Grizzlies had four top ten finishers as Jennifer Ohlsson was the first Golden Grizzly to cross the finish line, clocking in at 17:19.46 in second place. Makenna Scott earned a fastest career time (17:25.22) and Grace Nolan (17:45.53) finished back-to-back in fourth and fifth place, while Genavive Kushner-Lopez (18:11.18) also set a new personal record and rounded out the top ten. Anne May also set a new personal career time, finishing in 18:48.41. For the men Adam Jesse was the team's top finisher, finishing the race with a sub-15 minute time of 14:44.83 to finish third.

The Golden Grizzlies cleaned up in the 1500m to end the day, sharing nine top ten spots between the men's and women's races. For the women Oakland secured spots two through five in the order of: Ashley Quinn (4:43.22), Hannah Fisher (4:46.38), Haileigh Bisset (4:50.25), and Madeline Richman (4:50.60). The men took spots one through three as Yami Albrecht earned his first win of the outdoor season with a below four minute time of 3:55.52, while Logan Detweiler (3:57.56) and Carter McCalister (3:57.56) finished second and third, with McCalister earning a new career best time. Wesley Hollowell (3:59.31) and Josiah Magley (3:59.31) rounded out the top ten, finishing sixth and eighth with their sub four minute times as well.

Day 2

Starting a much busier day, the Golden Grizzlies began once again in the field with the shot put and discus throws. The familiar trio of Mansfield (16.33m), Foster (14.89m), and Jackson (13.26m) all finished in the top six as Mansfield took the crown in the event and recorded the best throw of his career. The group also swept the top three of the discus throws with Jackson earning first, Foster second, and Mansfield third. On the women's side Giese continued to shine, finishing second in the shot put with a throw of 12.96m and seventh in the discus, throwing 33.02m. Rice finished 11th as she surpassed her career best throw, tossing the disk 29.56m

The track events began with the 100m hurdles prelims, as Kylei Anderson (14.71s) and Emon Miles (15.40s) qualified for the women's finals, where Anderson earned second place and Miles finished fifth to round out the event.

Oakland continued to roll in the 400m, where freshman star Abby Jackson finished second with a career-best time of 58.88s, while on the opposite side the men occupied spots one through three as Kudera dominated the field with a first place time of 48.92s, immediately followed by Justice Stewart (49.19s) in second and Julian Bailey (49.81s) in third with his personal best time.

The Golden Grizzlies doubled up and headed into the 800m race, another very strong event for Oakland where they set three personal records and took gold in both events. Ashley Quinn took the top spot for the women (2:14.67). Brooke Hinkelman (2:18.96), Madeline Richaman (2:19.99), and Erin Hegarty (2:21.66) finished fifth, seventh, and eight for Oakland as Hegarty clocked a new best time of her career.. The men showcased the same level of domination with three top ten finishers of their own, including event-winner Eddie Harrell III (1:53.69), second place finisher Albrecht who set a personal mark of 1:54.25, and TJ Brooks (1:55.63) in seventh. Josiah Magely set a personal record time of 1:58.22 in the event as well, finishing 13th.

Grace Hungerford added another win to her season tally, flying through the women's 400m hurdles (1:03.95) to finish atop the field, while in the 200m sprints Julian Bailey (22.98) earned a bronze spot for the men and Jaylin Washington (26.27) clocked in at fourth for the women.

With the meet winding down, the final set of relays set up as Oakland finished second in the women's 4x400 relay with a time of 4:05.22 and third in the mixed gender 4x400 relay, stopping the clock at 3:57.02. 

The Golden Grizzlies take a week to prepare before hosting the Horizon League Championship Meet on May 3-5. 
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