track and field – The Oberlin Review

Women’s Track and Field Wins Third Straight NCAC Title

March 8, 2019

For the past few years, Oberlin track and field stars like Lilah Drafts-Johnson, Ana Richardson, and Monique Newton — all OC ’18 — have been household names in the Oberlin athletic community. After two consecutive years of Indoor Track and Field North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, with individual accolades and accomplishments to match, it may seem unclear to outsiders whether or not the track and field team could continue this streak of success without their stars. Non...

In The Locker Room with Daniel Mukasa and Jahkeem Wheatley, Senior Pole Vaulters and Best Friends

February 8, 2019

College seniors and pole vaulters Daniel Mukasa and Jahkeem Wheatley were each other’s first friend at Oberlin. Now, in their final year of collegiate track and field, the two hope to see each other on the podium at the Indoor and Outdoor North Coast Athletic Conference Championships. Mukasa, a Physics major from Riverside, CA, has a pole vault personal record of 14’1.25” and hopes to either receive a Fulbright Fellowship in Uganda or work toward his Ph.D. in material science after graduati...

In The Locker Room with Malaika Djungu-Sungu and Jada Kennerly, Women’s Track and Field First-Years

November 30, 2018

Malaika Djungu-Sungu and Jada Kennerly met for the first time as roommates during orientation week this fall. Both first-years, Djungu-Sungu is 17.5 hours away from her home in Arlington, TX, while Kennerly hails from Mt. Vernon, Ohio — a small town similar to Oberlin about an hour and a half away. This weekend, the two will be competing in their first college meet in the sprints and jumps for the women’s track and field team. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. ...

In The Locker Room with Emily Kelly and John Olsen, Engaging, and Engaged, Track Captains

September 28, 2018

College seniors John Olsen and Emily Kelly have been dating for nearly six years. Olsen, an Economics major and History minor, and Kelly, an East Asian Studies and Politics double major with a concentration in Chinese studies, have won a number of accolades leading up to their final season on the track. The Lake Oswego, OR, natives got engaged this summer and are now sprint captains for the men’s and women’s track and field teams, respectively. This interview has been edited for lengt...

Good Recruiting Leads to Great Success for Cross Country, Track and Field

September 14, 2018

It was four months ago that Lilah Drafts-Johnson, OC ’18, clutched her first-place trophy while being mobbed by teammates and coaches. She had just run the 10th fastest 400-meter hurdle time in the event’s history at the NCAA Division III Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and could finally call herself a national champion — a promise she made to herself three years earlier. Two days later, it was her Oberlin College diploma that she held with pride. After four year...

Track and Field Teams Dominate at All-Ohio

April 20, 2018

Under Head Coach Ray Appenheimer, Oberlin’s track and field athletes have consistently broken school records and earned personal bests by avoiding complacency and encouraging each other to be the best possible athletes, teammates, and leaders every single meet. On Saturday, the No. 12 Yeowomen continued their dominance by placing first at the All-Ohio Championships with a grand total of 124 points. Seniors Lilah Drafts-Johnson and Monique Newton highlighted the day, combining for 48 team poin...

Yeomen, Women Take Senior Day at Bob Kahn Invitational

April 13, 2018

The Yeomen and Yeowomen track and field teams invited 19 different teams — 9 women’s and 10 men’s — to their annual Bob Kahn Invitational for Senior Day, besting them all as they both claimed first place last weekend. While the Yeowomen have been no strangers to success this season as they look to claim their second consecutive North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship, the men had yet to claim a first-place finish until last weekend. “We were really proud of how well b...

Yeowomen Capture Second Straight NCAC Title

March 9, 2018

The women’s indoor track and field team captured their second straight North Coast Athletic Conference Championship last Saturday, continuing their historic streak of success that has included multiple NCAC, regional, and national honors for players and coaches alike. The Yeomen also came out strong, finishing sixth overall with 60 points. “The team competed with a sense of joy and a sense of purpose all weekend long,” Head Track and Field Coach Ray Appenheimer wrote in an email to the Review...

Perspective: Track Teams Take On All-Ohio

February 16, 2018

On Saturday, the men’s and women’s track and field teams loaded up the turtle tops and drove down to Otterbein University to take on the best Division III competition in the state at the All-Ohio Indoor Championships. Simply qualifying for the meet was a challenge in itself, as entries were limited to the top sixteen athletes in each event. At the end of the day, the Yeowomen placed fifth in Ohio with 66 points, while the Yeomen took seventeenth with seven points. Otterbein and Mount Union won...

Track and Field Impresses Against Division I Competition

February 9, 2018

Despite being the only Division III school competing at the Cedarville University Collegiate Invite, the men’s and women’s track and field teams emerged with third and fourth-place finishes, respectively. Head Coach Ray Appenheimer said that he was pleasantly surprised with his athletes’ performances considering the competition they faced. “It was really cool to get the opportunity [to compete] against teams we never ever see,” Appenheimer said. “There’s always stuff to work on,...

Women Finish First, Men Second in Track & Field Opener

December 8, 2017

After capturing the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championships for the first time in school history last year, the Yeowomen picked up where they left off last weekend by winning the Fifth-Annual Spartan Holiday Classic at Case Western Reserve University. The men’s team, which was not as dominant as the women’s last year, began their asscent as they finished second in the meet. Monique Newton, Ana Richardson, Naeisha McClain, Jasmine Keegan, Maya English, and Cecelia Longo...

Heptathletes Score in NCAC Multi-Event Championships

May 5, 2017

Scattered around the state this past weekend, portions of the track and field team competed in meets at Ashland University, Denison University and right here at home, where Oberlin hosted the North Coast Athletic Conference Multi-Event Championships. In the multi-events, Oberlin was represented in the heptathlon by experienced junior Lisa Carle and first-time heptathletes, first-years Jasmine Keegan and Christine Impara. The trio fought through fatigue to deliver strong performances that earned...