Ohio State did not just host the Jesse Owens Classic. The Buckeyes owned it.
They dominated in both track events and field events this weekend for their only outdoor home meet of the season with nearly 50 teams competing.
“We were aggressive today, dominant today,” track and field director Karen Dennis said. “But we have to continue to work hard, dig deeper, get better so that we can be dominant in the Big Ten.”
Women’s Recap
Ohio State’s sophomore Annie Ubbing and senior Aziza Ayoub led the first lap of the 800-meter race, running shoulder-to-shoulder. On the last lap, Ubbing took the lead and won with a time of 2:05.79, beating her personal best.
Ubbing’s record is the 19th-fastest time in the country.
“After I finished, I actually had no idea I ran that fast, but I felt really good,” Ubbing said. “Going into it, I was like just get through 600 and keeping going and just hang on for dear life. But it’s very exciting.”
Ubbing added that running neck and neck with Ayoub made it feel like the two were working in tandem, instead of competing against each other.
“I felt Aziza was the last two 100-meters and then the other two girls started passing me and I was kind of like, ‘OK just stay with it,’” Ubbing said. “But not so much me versus her, it was just like go with her.”
Ubbing was not the only Buckeye to put up a strong performance. Freshman Anavia Battle placed first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11:56 seconds.
In the 4×100-meter dash, sophomore Halimah Barlow, senior Maggie Barrie, senior Beatrice Hannan and Battle finished with a winning time of 44.92.
Additionally, Barrie came in first in the 200-meter dash with a personal best time of 23.27 seconds, while her teammate, Battle, came in third at 23.66 seconds.
Barrie, sophomore Halimah Barlow, sophomore Tamani Wilson and junior Karrington Winters won the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:42:01.
Junior Mikaela Seibert won the triple jump with a total of 12.48 meters.
In the 100-meter dash, Chantel Ray placed second with a time of 13.61 seconds.
Men’s Recap
Despite his shortest jump of the year, senior Zack Bazile took first place in long jump with a leap of 7.35 meters.
Ohio State athletes swept the 100-meter dash, with Bazile, freshman Eric Harrison and senior Duan Asemota filling up the platform.
Bazile finished in first with a time of 10.35 seconds, Harrison took the silver at 10.45 and Asemota came in third at 10.49.
Bazile, Harrison, sophomore Asa Burke and freshman Tavonte Mott combined in the 4×100-meter relay to run a first-place time of 40.17 seconds.
Burke won the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 21.10 and senior Drelan Bramwell came in second with a personal-best 21.12-second time.
Freshman Andre Jeff finished in first place with a time of 46.89 seconds in the 400-meter dash, with Burke trailing behind two spots at third at 47.24 seconds.
In the 4×400-meter relay, sophomore Terry Johnson, Harrison, sophomore Keilan Beachman and senior Drelan Bramwell placed first at 3:13.92.Dajuan Seward leapt 14.80 meters to win triple jump and placed second with a 14.05-second time in the 110-meter hurdles.
In shot put, Nick Demaline placed first with a throw of 19.86 meters.
In the pole vault, Ohio State teammates Cole Gorski and Coty Cobb had a jump-off for the top two spots. Gorski came in first, clearing 5.27 meters, and Cobb came in second after making it over 5.12 meters.
