Senior Zack Bazile competes in the long jump during a meet in the French Field House. Bazile has a chance to win the NCAA indoor national championship when Ohio State travels to the NCAA indoor national championships. Credit: Ethan Clewell | Lantern Reporter
The Ohio State men’s track and field team won the Power 5 Trailblazer Challenge and the women’s team finished third Saturday in Los Angeles.
The meet included Ohio State, USC, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Miami, which each have women who coach both men’s and women’s programs. Karen Dennis is in her fourth season leading both the Buckeyes’ men’s and women’s programs.
Ohio State brought the full force of its roster, something that other teams did not. USC did not have its best 4×400-meter relay units for either its men’s nor women’s teams, both of which were indoor national champions. It also did not come with Michael Norman, a world-record holder in the 400-meter dash.
Men’s recap
Senior Cole Gorski and junior Coty Cobb packed a one-two punch on the pole-vault scoreboard. Gorski took gold when he cleared 5.36 meters and Cobb came in second, clearing 5.16 meters.
Ohio State junior DaJuan Seward had an easy path to victory in the 110-meter hurdles. Miami’s Andreas Christodoulou false started and was Seward’s only opponent in the race. Seward also finished first in triple-jump with a leaps adding up to 15.28 meters.
Bazile won gold in long jump with a jump of 7.93 meters. Even his first leap, in which he sailed 7.83 meters, would have finished in first.
Senior Nick Demaline finished first in shot put with a 20.13-meter throw.
The Ohio State 4×100 meter relay team, which consisted of freshman Eric Harrison Jr., junior Nick Gray, senior Drelan Bramwell and Bazile, finished second with a time of 39.36 seconds. That performance was good for the fourth-fastest time in program history.
Senior Zack Bazile finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.40 seconds. Harrison followed right behind in third with a time of 10.45 seconds.
In the 1500-meter run, sophomore Alexander Lomong finished second with a time of 3:48.
Women’s recap
Ohio State was in second behind Miami heading into the final leg of the 4×400-meter relay before junior Karrington Winters took the baton and overtook the Hurricanes to give her team a first place finish at 3:36.
Senior Maggie Barrie finished first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.61, which is the fastest time in the nation thus far in the outdoor season. USC’s Kendall Ellis did not compete in the race despite winning the event at the indoor national championship. The Buckeyes scored 23 team points in the 400-meter dash.
Sophomore Julia Rizk took first place in the 1500-meter run while setting a personal record of 4:23.
Mikaela Seibert won the triple-jump with a total of 12.72 meters.
Ohio State will gear up for its first relay meet at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina.
