Despite unrelenting rain, Oberlin’s Track and Field team competed in the North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships at the Kahn Track and Fred Schultz Field this past weekend. After winning first place in the indoor championship earlier this year, the women’s team won first again with 187 points, sealing their fourth outdoor championship title in the program. Trailing at 88 points, the men’s team placed fourth. Aside from group wins, many athletes earned new personal records during the meet. Fourth-year Anna Scott was named NCAC Distance/Middle Distance Runner of the Year, and fourth-year Zac Ntia was named NCAC Field Athlete of the Year. After being awarded the title at the indoor championships, Head Coach Ray Appenheimer and the assistant coaches were named Coaches of the Year for the women’s division once again. Below are highlights of just some of the many athletes who raked home points at the meet:

Clare Tiedemann, fourth-year

Conference champ, women’s 100-meter hurdles

14.73s, Personal Record

“It was pretty stressful. I was having a lot of back pain and couldn’t do most of my events full out before competing, and the last time I did a hurdles race, I fell on a hurdle and basically rolled across the track. So winning was actually a huge surprise and probably the best feeling in the world.”

Iyanna Lewis, third-year

Conference champ, hammer throw

169-01.00 (51.54 meters), Personal Record

“Preparation for the outdoor season felt significantly faster, and there was a very quick turnaround between training for the indoor throwing events and the outdoor throwing events. Despite me being a third year, this was my first outdoor track season at Oberlin. This meant training was pretty intense, as I was doing four events, two of which I had never done before and two I hadn’t done since high school. Leading up to the conference meet was very exciting, and coming off of the women’s team win at indoor conference many of us were very amped up for the meet. Getting first in hammer was very special to me, especially because this is the first season I have competed in the hammer throw. But even with the condensed time frame of training, I felt very prepared and was happy I could do my best for the team.”

Malaïka Djungu-Sungu, fourth-year

Conference champ, long jump and triple jump

LJ: 18-03.75 (5.58 meters), Personal Record

TJ: 37-10 (11.53 meters) 

“It felt like another day in the office. I am very proud to say that I am a part of a team where winning is a typical thing, and the group-wide attitude reflects that. That being said, the weather was an unusual obstacle this year that we had to mentally prepare for. Regardless, we showed up and showed out! Because I have been at the top of the national list in the triple jump since the beginning of the outdoor season, I had to think more strategically than usual, which took away from the fun of this sport for me at times. Because of COVID and lots of other changes, this season has been a tumultuous one, to put it lightly, but hard work pays off. I have a fourth team conference championship and four records now to show that.”

Phoebe von Conta, fourth-year

Conference champ, 5,000-meter

17:54.80s, Personal Record

“A lot of the preparation was mental — just feeling confident and prepared to give it my all when I went to race. I had raced the 5,000 a few times before. At our season opener,, I missed breaking 18:00 by one second, so since that time I’ve been working towards breaking 18:00. I have to attribute a lot of my physical and mental training to my training partners Anna Scott and Chase Sortor, who have been by my side through every workout and run. Being able to do what we did at the conference, as a team and individually, has everything to do with the support and love that we give each other as teammates. I’m so lucky to have been on a team with people like them who push me and lovingly guide me to be my best!”

Zac Ntia, fourth-year 

NCAC Field Athlete of the Year 

Conference champ, hammer throw

168‑11 (51.49 meters)

“The preparation for the meet might be my favorite part. There’s no better feeling than walking into a competition confident in the work you’ve put in up to that point. I’m proud of the work I did throughout the year, and winning the hammer was just a byproduct of that. To be honest, I was angry when they announced I was field athlete of the year. I didn’t feel like I earned it and felt there were other people who were very deserving of the [award]. It took me about a day to work through that and come to a place of understanding that just because there were other people who could’ve won it doesn’t mean I wasn’t deserving of it as well. All that said, that was a huge goal of mine I got to check off, and I’m very thankful for the honor!”

Zack Lee, third-year

Conference champ, triple jump

43-05.75 (13.25 meters)

“It was exciting. I’ve been dealing with injuries all season, so it was good to come back and be able to win it. It was also sad because it was … a bunch of the captains’ — [including fourth-year] Kofi [Asare’s], who is in the same events as me — …  last meet. So it was sad to see him go, but it was a good ending to his career.”

Anna Scott, fourth-year

NCAC Distance Runner of the Year 

Conference champ, 1,500-meter and 800-meter

1,500 meters: 4 minutes, 48.97 seconds

800 meters: 2:21.34

“It felt like everything was finally falling into place when I won both the 1500 and 800. I was so dedicated to it all for so long and to finally get the satisfaction of ending up where the hard work pays off is incredibly rewarding. I’m so proud of myself and of my teammates, it feels great to end on this note.”