Wildcats shatter track and field school records
Qualifiers move on to compete in the West Coast Classic
TUCSON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona Track and Field wrapped up their second home meet of the outdoor season on Saturday at the annual Jim Click Shootout where Israel Oloyede (HT) and Johnnie Blockburger (400m) broke the school records in their respective events.
Field Events
Israel Oloyede broke his second Arizona school record, throwing for 72.91m (239-2) on his final attempt to win the hammer throw contest. Oloyede’s PR is also an Olympic Trials qualifying mark.
Jordan Geist placed second in the hammer with a toss of 67.74m (222-3). On the women’s side, freshman Ava David threw for a PR with a mark of 57.34m (188-1), which moves her up to eighth on Arizona’s all-time list.
Samantha Noennig won the shot put contest, throwing 18.14m (59-6.25), which ranks her fourth in school history. The Wildcats swept the shot put as Geist got the win in the event as well with a mark of 19.83m (65-0.75).
In her outdoor season opener, Lillian Lowe won the high jump contest with a mark of 1.78m (5-10). Alexa Porpaczy placed second and Karla Teran took third, both clearing an identical mark to Lowe. For the men, Justice Summerset placed second with a clearance of 2.14m (7-0.25).
Katie Daily placed second in the pole vault, clearing a PR mark of 4.03m (13-2.5). She moves up to fifth-best in school history.
Kimarah Holt posted a big PR of 5.97m (19-7) in the women’s long jump, taking sixth.
Running Events
Freshman Johnnie Blockburger broke the Arizona all-time 400m record, clocking 44.71 to win the event. He previously broke the freshman record at the Willie Williams Classic with a time of 45.83. His performance makes him the first Wildcat to run the 400m under 45 seconds and replaces Bobby McCoy’s record from 2008.
"Johnnie has that type of skill set to be one of the elite 400m runners in the country, if not the world," commented head coach Fred Harvey. "I think his race really lifted the squad, both men and women, when they saw that. That was definitely the performance of the meet."
In her 400m hurdle debut, Shannon Meisberger won the event with a time of 56.61, moving her up to the fourth-best time in school history. On the men’s side, Calvin Wilson finished fourth with a time of 52.13.
"For Shannon to open up her very first 400m hurdle race, run a PR and the third-fastest time in the country, is very special," shared Coach Harvey.
Trent Stimac and Trevor Volpe both clocked 10.54 in the 100m to finish third and fifth respectively. The pair also posted PRs in the 200m with Volpe running 21.24 and Stimac 21.42.
Neysia Howard ran a time of 11.74 in the 100m and 24.00 in the 200m to take third in both races.
The men’s relay squad of Isaac Davis, Wilson, Logan Hasher and Blockburger won the 4x400 with a season-best time of 3:05.86. The women’s team of Meisberger, Howard, Grace Reinholz and Alyssa Blockburger also ran a season-best of 3:38.81.
"We are as good as we think we are," expressed Coach Harvey. "What I mean by that is we are as competitive as anybody in the country. We have really good diversity. The balance that we have is pretty fabulous."
The Wildcats will be back in action on April 17th as they compete in the West Coast Classic.
