Ole Miss men’s and women’s track and field teams completed the first day of competition at the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, South Carolina, on Friday. The teams achieved one event win and several personal bests across multiple events.
Junior Akaoma Odeluga won the women’s weight throw, leading from start to finish. Her final throw measured 21.65 meters (71-00.50), securing her victory. Junior Skylar Soli finished second with a top mark of 21.08 meters (69-2) in her last attempt.
Freshman Natalie Brown recorded a personal record with a throw of 19.43 meters (63-9), placing fourth and moving to 13th on Ole Miss’ all-time list for the event. Sophomore Naomi Woolfolk also set a personal best at 19.18 meters (62-11.75), finishing fifth and holding the 14th spot in school history. Freshman Temidayo Owoyemi placed 13th with a career-best throw of 17.26 meters (56-07.50).
In the men’s weight throw, all three Ole Miss competitors reached the final round. Senior Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan was the top collegiate finisher with a distance of 23.43 meters (76-10.50), behind only professional athlete Isaiah Rogers.
Senior Bryson Smith threw a personal best of 22.24 meters (72-11.75) to take fourth place, improving his position as second-best in program history and ranking him 11th nationally this season among NCAA athletes who have competed in the event.
Senior Mason Hickel finished seventh with a consistent performance at 21.18 meters (69-6).
The women’s pole vault saw sophomore Lily Beattie clear her first two bars without misses, ending third after reaching a height of 4.12 meters (13-06.25). Juniors Mary Cate Doughty and Aly Francolini each achieved season bests, while junior transfer Rachel Homoly tied for sixth at 3.97 meters (13-00.25), which places her at No. 13 indoors in school history.
On the track, sophomore Jordan Urrutia posted a career-best time of 46.63 seconds in his season debut for the men’s 400-meter dash, finishing seventh overall and moving to fourth on Ole Miss’ indoor all-time list for that event.
In the men’s mile race, junior Evan Thornton-Sherman narrowly missed breaking four minutes by finishing sixth with a career-best time of 4:00.27—good enough for No. 14 on Ole Miss’ historical list for that distance.
The Rebels also had strong performances in both men’s and women’s sprints during preliminary rounds of the meet’s second straight competition weekend featuring these events.
Junior Royanah Farmer ran a personal record of 7.31 seconds in the women’s preliminary round for the 60-meter dash—a result that ties her for sixth-fastest ever at Ole Miss—and advanced to semifinals before withdrawing from finals due to unspecified reasons.
Freshman Patchnalie Compere set a new Haitian national record by running her first collegiate race over this distance in preliminaries.
On Saturday morning, competition will continue starting at nine o’clock Central Time with additional events scheduled throughout the day.
