ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Oakland track and field team turned in a series of strong performances Saturday at the Michigan Invitational, posting numerous personal bests, two program records and multiple top-10 finishes against a competitive field inside the U-M Indoor Track Building.

On the track, Austin Graham led the way in the men's 60-meter hurdles, qualifying for the final with an 8.55 in prelims before placing eighth overall in 8.76. On the women's side, Kylei Anderson advanced out of the 60-meter hurdles prelims with an 8.63 before finishing seventh in the final (9.11).

In the sprints, Xavier Davis recorded a personal best in the men's 60 meters, clocking a 7.19 in prelims. Catherine Leahy delivered a pair of season-best performances for the Golden Grizzlies, running 25.05 in the women's 200 meters before placing third in the 400 meters with a time of 56.29. Abigail Rice also notched a season best in the women's 800 meters, finishing fifth in 2:19.22.

Middle-distance events saw several strong efforts from Oakland. Ja-Van Poole posted a time of 1:21.25 to place second in the men's 600 meters, while Bryce Nowik finished seventh in the men's 800 meters in 1:58.76. In the mile, freshman Jaxson Nowik recorded 4:18.58, with Mamdouh Abukaram following in 4:31.07.

Oakland's women were well represented in the mile as Eliza Bush led the group with a fifth-place finish in 4:54.83 for the Oakland program record in the women's indoor mile. Courtney Bovair and Maggie Hall each set personal bests, running 5:04.73 and 5:17.98, respectively, while Mackenzie Lemke added a PR of her own at 5:18.40.

In the men's 3,000 meters, Carter McCalister placed seventh with a time of 8:31.95, followed closely by Collin Farmer, who finished 10th in 8:58.55.

From the field events, Davis also posted a personal best 13.74m in the triple jump for fourth place, as Blake Foster led the way in shot put with a solid throw of 15.03m to finish 9th, while Conner Cherney followed in 11th with 14.10m. Foster also doubled back in the men's weight throw, placing 11th with a mark of 15.39m, with Cherney close behind in 13th at 13.22m.

On the women's side, Jamie Giese had a strong meet, breaking her own indoor shot put record of 14.06m and later adding 15.02m in the weight throw. Desteny DeJarnett continued her momentum with a season best of 12.26m in the shot put and capped the day with a personal record in the weight throw, hitting 15.23m. Lainee Wagner added valuable points in the shot put with a throw of 10.66m.                       

The Golden Grizzlies are back for a split weekend in action. Oakland will compete at the GVSU Big Meet on Friday, Feb. 13, while another group of Golden Grizzlies will be at Boston University for the David Hemery Valentine Invitational Friday and Saturday.


How to Follow Oakland Cross Country/Track and Field: For complete information on Oakland Cross Country/Track and Field teams, follow the team on X at @OaklandTrackXC. The team is also on Instagram.