Track & Field Posts Solid Marks in Opening Meet

CINCINNATI - The first indoor competition of the 2020 track & field season came to a close Friday night inside the Nutter Fieldhouse in Lexington, Ky., with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats posting solid marks at the Jingle Bells Open, including 10 that rank among the program's all-time Top 10. Included in the results were two individual event victories and 38 total personal-best marks with the men and women achieving 19 each.

// AMONG THE BEST • WOMEN
Four women recorded marks that rank in the all-time Top 10 in program history with newcomer Victoria Abunaw leading the way as she achieved two of the five marks. The sophomore, who transferred in from Akron, recorded Top 10 marks in her debut in a pair of events, starting with the 60m hurdles as she ran 8.64 in the prelims to post the #10 time in Bearcats history. She would go on to finish fifth in the  final with a time of 8.73. She also raced in the 300m dash and turned in a time of 41.87 to not only finish 11th overall, but also post the #8 time in UC history.

Staying on the track, two more sophomores also added their names to Top 10 ledgers with Faith Banks joining the 500m dash list and Madalyn O'Dea improving her mark in the 1,000m run. Banks posted a time of 1:13.96 to finish second in the event while posting the third-best time in program history. O'Dea ran 3:03.99 in the 1,000m run to improve her PR by nearly two seconds to post the #10 time at UC.

The final Top 10 mark came in the pentathlon as Sydney Spears cleared a height of 1.60m (5-03.00) in the high jump portion of the event to move into a tie for #10 all-time. Spears would go on to finish fourth overall in the five-event competition with 3,419 points.

// AMONG THE BEST • MEN
Three sprinters and one thrower combined to post five Top 10 marks on the day. Isaiah McCall posted a pair of Top 10 marks in the 60m dash as he ran 6.89 in the prelims before racing to a time of 6.82 in the final to finish third overall. His preliminary time tied his PR and the #10 time in program history before his time in the final pushed him all the way up to #4 on the all-time ledger. In the 60m hurdles, Connor Duricky became the fifth different UC man to run under eight seconds as he posted a time of 7.92 in the final to move up to #5 all-time and finish second overall on the day and tops among collegiate runners.

Chris Borzor rounded out the fast times on the track for the Bearcats as he raced in the 500m dash and posted a time of 1:03.19 to not only win the event, but also record the #3 time in program history. His time is the fastest turned in by a UC runner since 1986 and is just the fourth time a UC man has run the event in under 1:04 in program history.

In the field, senior Aaron Deaton got his season off to a strong start as he posted personal-best tosses in both the shot put and the weight throw. His mark in the shot put measured 17.20m (56-05.25) to finish third on the day and move him up to #5 all-time. He also improved his PR in the weight throw as he finished fifth on the day at 16.83m (55-02.75).

// GRABBING GOLD
Two other Bearcats captured event titles on the day with the men and women each recording one. For the women, Kennedy Marable was victorious in the triple jump as she posted a mark of 12.05m (39-06.50) while also taking second in the long jump with a best of 5.37m (17-07.50). On the men's side, Logan Baker took the top spot in the 1,000m run as he raced to a PR of 2:34.55.

// SO CLOSE
Six other finishes recorded tonight saw Bearcats finish second overall with the women grabbing four of those silver medals. The runner-up finishes for the women included Rachel Coghill in the pole vault (3.67m/12-00.50); Malin Smith in the shot put (14.98m/49-01.75); freshman Hannah Jackson in the weight throw (16.10m/52-10.00); and Angelica Lightfoot in the pentathlon (3,579 points). On the men's side, second-place showings went to the 4x400m relay team of Borzor, Baker, David Endres and Jase Headings (3:26.41) and Cannon Riddle in the pentathlon (3,583 points). Riddle was the top collegiate finisher in the event as former UC All-American Alex Bloom won the event (3,886 points).

// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will return to action one last time in 2019 next Friday as they travel to Bloomington, Ind., for the Hoosier Open hosted by Indiana. The one-day competition will take place inside the Gladstein Fieldhouse on the IU campus.

2019 Jingle Bells Open
Nutter Field House • Lexington, Ky.
December 6, 2019
Women's Results
60m Dash
Prelims
9. Victoria Abunaw • 7.90q • PR
10. Kennedy Marable • 7.90 • PR
12. Calista Manns • 7.95
14. Leah King • 8.00 • PR
18. Jazmine Scott • 8.15
FINAL
7. Victoria Abunaw • 7.94

60m Hurdles
Prelims
3. Victoria Abunaw • 8.64q • UC #10
6. Leah King • 8.87q
7. Calista Manns • 8.92q
8. Taylor Beard • 9.55q • PR
FINAL
5. Victoria Abunaw • 8.73
6. Leah King • 8.86 • PR
7. Calista Manns • 8.95
9. Taylor Beard • 9.41 • PR

300m Dash
11. Victoria Abunaw • 41.87 • PR & UC #8

500m Dash
2. Faith Banks • 1:13.96 • PR & UC #3
3. Kylie Cutlip • 1:19.15

1,000m Run
4. Madalyn O'Dea • 3:03.99 • PR & UC #10

Mile Run
3. Anna Evans • 5:40.97

4x400m Relay
3. Cincinnati • 3:57.00
      Cutlip, Banks, O'Dea, King

Long Jump
2. Kennedy Marable • 5.37m (17-07.50)
3. Irati Mitxelena • 5.35m (17-06.75)
7. Jazmine Scott • 4.93m (16-02.25)

Triple Jump
1. Kennedy Marable • 12.05m (39-06.50)
2. Taylor Beard • 11.36m (37-03.25)
5. Jazmine Scott • 10.81m (35-05.75)

Pole Vault
2. Rachel Coghill • 3.67m (12-00.50)
4. Lily Bunse • 3.57m (11-08.50)
7. Macy Urig • 3.22m (10-06.75)

Shot Put
2. Malin Smith • 14.98m (49-01.75)
4. Hannah Jackson • 13.57m (44-06.25)
6. Izzy Kline • 13.06m (42-10.25)

Weight Throw
2. Hannah Jackson • 16.10m (52-10.00)
3. Malin Smith • 15.98m (52-05.25) • PR
4. Izzy Kline • 15.22m (49-11.25) • PR

Pentathlon
2. Angelica Lightfoot • 3,579 points
4. Sydney Spears • 3,419 points
6. Juliet McGregor • 3,100 points • PR

PENT #1 • 60m Hurdles
1. Angelica Lightfoot • 8.76 [961pt]
4. Sydney Spears • 9.27 [854pt]
5. Juliet McGregor • 9.41 [826pt] • PR

PENT #2 • High Jump
t2. Angelica Lightfoot • 1.60m (5-03.00)[736pt]
t2. Sydney Spears • 1.60m (5-03.00)[736pt] • PR & UC PENT #10 (tie)
t5. Juliet McGregor • 1.48m (4-10.25)[599pt] • PR

PENT #3 • Shot Put
1. Angelica Lightfoot • 12.50m (41-00.25)[694pt]
4. Sydney Spears • 10.41m (34-02.00)[556pt] • PR
6. Juliet McGregor • 9.83m (32-03.00)[518pt] • PR

PENT #4 • Long Jump
3. Angelica Lightfoot • 5.29m (17-04.25)[640pt]
5. Sydney Spears • 5.15m (16-10.75)[601pt]
7. Juliet McGregor • 5.03m (16-06.00)[567pt] • PR

PENT #5 • 800m Run
3. Sydney Spears • 2:31.65 [672pt]
4. Juliet McGregor • 2:38.55 [590pt] • PR
5. Angelica Lightfoot • 2:42.16 [548pt]

Men's Results
60m Dash
Prelims
2. Isaiah McCall • 6.89q • PR & UC #10 (tie)
4. Arthur Greenlee IV • 6.97q • PR
FINAL
3. Isaiah McCall • 6.82 • PR & UC #4
Greenlee IV did not run in the final

60m Hurdles
Prelims
3. Connor Duricky • 8.04q
FINAL
2. Connor Duricky • 7.92* • PR & UC #5
* top collegiate finisher

500m Dash
1. Chris Borzor • 1:03.10 • PR & UC #3
4. Connor Duricky • 1:09.49 • PR

1,000m Run
1. Logan Baker • 2:34.55 • PR
3. Jase Headings • 2:35.87
4. David Endres • 2:35.98 • PR

4x400m Relay
2. Cincinnati • 3:26.41
      Borzor, Baker, Endres, Headings

High Jump
4. Lawrence Mitchell • 2.02m (6-07.50) • PR

Pole Vault
4. Austin Goolsby • 4.85m (15-11.00)
6. Nicholas Lauria • 4.60m (15-01.00)

Shot Put
3. Aaron Deaton • 17.20m (56-05.25) • PR & UC #5
5. Sam Meece • 15.33m (50-03.50)

Weight Throw
2. Sam Meece • 18.45m (60-06.50)
3. Chris Province • 17.43m (57-02.25)
5. Aaron Deaton • 16.83m (55-02.75) • PR
6. Danny Jones (unattached) • 16.72m (54-10.25)

Pentathlon
1. Alex Bloom (former UC) • 3,886 points
2. Cannon Riddle • 3,583 points* • PR
4. Jeremy Hayton • 3,269 points • PR
 -- Damien Berthenet • DNF
* top collegiate finisher

PENT #1 • 60m Hurdles
1. Damien Berthenet • 8.22 [927pt]
5. Jeremy Hayton • 9.39 [662pt] • PR
 -- Cannon Riddle • DNS

PENT #2 • High Jump
2. Jeremy Hayton • 1.99m (6-06.25)[794pt]
t3. Cannon Riddle • 1.90m (6-02.75)[714pt]
 --  Damien Berthenet • NH

PENT #3 • Shot Put
2. Jeremy Hayton • 11.82m (38-09.50)[595pt] • PR
3. Cannon Riddle • 11.61m (38-01.25)[583pt] • PR

PENT #4 • Long Jump
3. Cannon Riddle • 6.79m (22-03.50)[764pt] • PR
4. Jeremy Hayton • 6.33m (20-09.25)[659pt] • PR

PENT #5 • 1,000m Run
1. Cannon Riddle • 2:47.51 [792pt]
6. Jeremy Hayton • 3:11.16 [559pt] • PR