Last weekend, Oberlin’s track and field teams took on both The College of Wooster and Lourdes University in a home meet. Though this event was far smaller in size than previous competitions this season, the Yeomen and Yeowomen used it as an opportunity to play on home soil and put up some terrific numbers in preparation for the All-Ohio Championships.

Though all members of both rosters performed at high levels, the hurdlers and sprinters were the definite highlights of the day. Fourth-year Chilly Wallace dominated the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She won first overall in the race with a time of 15.57 seconds, marking her first victory of the outdoor season.

“I feel really good about my performance this weekend,” Wallace said. “I’m happy to have qualified in conference for all of my events on the first try. [I even qualified] in the 200, which is an event I’ve only ever done [once before during] my [first] year.”

The Yeomen and Yeowomen had multiple winning relay teams as well, closing out the entire meet with back-to-back wins in their respective 4×400 races.

“We blew [the 4×400] out the water,” second-year sprinter Cole Fuller said. “Once [fourth-year] Simon [Lowe] was ahead of everyone at 150 meters in the first leg, I knew this was our race to [win]. As long as we kept our distance away from the competitors, we were chilling. It was also amazing to see our national rankings sitting in seventh after the race. I’m very excited to see if we can maintain, possibly better it, later this season.”

Fuller and Lowe were accompanied by second-years Kambi Obioha and Sam Fechner in their success. Third-year Myranda Montoye, second-years Camila Ciembroniewicz and Sage Reddish, and first-year Clara Smith guided the Yeowomen to victory as well.

However, the 4×400 race was not Fuller’s only relay of the day. He had already run the 4×100 earlier that meet, an event that ended in far more dramatic fashion. In attempting a hand-off in the third leg, Fuller ended up falling to the ground and diving, thrusting the baton to Fechner.

“I took one for the team in the 4×100 — I knew our exchanges were smooth, and I needed to keep that up,” Fuller said. Despite his stumble, Fuller performed at a very high level. “We’re now competitive in the conference,” he said. “It’s very exciting to see what’s to come with this group.”

When looking at Oberlin’s overall running results from last Saturday, one thing is certain: Both teams show a lot of promise for the outdoor season.

“As for what I’m looking forward to, I’m excited to see how I continue to improve given that I’ve started off so strong, but also my teammates,” Wallace said. “The outdoor season has just started, and there have already been lifetime bests and conference qualifiers. Who knows what else is in store for Oberlin track and field?”

Wallace’s optimism for the future of Oberlin’s track and field athletes is a sentiment shared by many on the team.

“The team showed up for each other and there were a lot of PRs and conference qualifiers [throughout the meet],” third-year Eliza Medearis said. “We’ve been a pretty strong team in the past, but we lost a lot of seniors last year. It’ll be a lot harder to get the conference championship this year, but I think we can do it.”

Despite the loss of experienced teammates, Oberlin’s track runners don’t seem to have missed a beat. Tomorrow, the teams will travel to Delaware, Ohio to compete in the All-Ohio Championships.