FREEPORT, BAHAMAS – The Arizona Track and Field team will begin the 2023 outdoor season in the Bahamas for the Island Relays this Friday and Saturday.
"This trip is everything we are about regarding the Wildcat Way," said Head Coach
Fred Harvey. "Athletics allows us to support our world community and experience aspects of life otherwise not provided to most. We are going to compete with some of the best programs and coaches at the NCAA level, provide true world community service, as well as allow our student-athletes to experience another way of life."
The competition gets started on Friday at 7:00 a.m. MST with the women's javelin. An opening ceremony will then commence prior to the running events beginning at 2:45 p.m. MST with the women's 400m hurdles. On Saturday, the women's 3k will start off the day at 6:00 a.m. MST. Field events will begin soon thereafter, with the shot put starting at 7:00 a.m. MST. Finally, a closing ceremony will wrap up the competition at 1:15 p.m. MST on Saturday. Live results for all the events can be found
here.
The Wildcats come into the outdoor season after a very successful outing at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Three competitors received All-America honors:
Jordan Geist,
Talie Bonds, and
Alexa Porpaczy. Geist had an incredible performance in the shot put, winning the event and being crowned an NCAA Champion. He had a dominant season, leading the NCAA in the event from the first indoor meet of the year. He finished as a First Team All-American and was also an Honorable Mention All-American in the weight throw. Bonds finished seventh overall in the 60m hurdles and was named a First Team All-American as well. Additionally, Porpaczy placed 14th overall in the high jump and finished as a Second Team All-American.
Throughout the indoor season, Arizona saw three school records be broken.
Jordan Geist reset his own indoor shot put record with a throw of 21.48m (70-5.75). Furthermore,
Talie Bonds broke the 60m hurdles record three times this season and matched it again at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a time of 8.01.
Trayvion White-Austin also went sub-21 seconds in the 200m, breaking the school record with a time of 20.97.
During the season, the Wildcats also had a total of 10 competitors win an individual event: Geist (shot put, weight throw), Bonds (60m hurdles), Porpaczy (high jump), White-Austin (60m),
Mackenna Orie (shot put),
Neysia Howard (60m, 200m),
Lyricc Lopez (600m),
Youssef Koudssi (shot put),
Kristjan Sigfinnsson (high jump), and
Zach Landa (shot put). Additionally, the men's 4x400m relay team of
Carl Hicks,
Isaac Davis,
Brayden Hasher, and
Lyricc Lopez, also won the event during the year, running a near school record time of 46.03.
The Wildcats will also have a handful of athletes making their track and field season debuts.
Jared O'Riley and
Erin Tack will compete in the javelin for the first time this year, as the event does not take place during the indoor season. Additionally,
Noah Jodon,
Brian Limage, and
Antonia Sanchez Nunez will all be competing in their first track meet of the year as well.
The Wildcats will be competing against Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas A&M, the University of the Bahamas, and Vanderbilt.
A meet recap will be posted to ArizonaWildcats.com detailing the competition results. Live updates will also be posted to @ArizonaTrack on Twitter.
WHO'S COMPETING
MEN
Isaac Davis,
Zachary Extine,
Jordan Geist,
Carl Hicks,
Noah Jodon,
Tanner Kippes,
Youssef Koudssi,
Zach Landa,
Brian Limage,
Lyricc Lopez,
Diego Marquez,
Jared O'Riley,
James Onanubosi,
Cooper Quigley,
Reinaldo Rodrigues,
Cade Russo,
Iker Sanchez Lopez,
Kristjan Sigfinnsson,
Evan Simmons,
Trayvion White-Austin
WOMEN
Esther Akinlosotu,
Talie Bonds,
Jenica Bosko,
Ava David,
Lauryn Ford,
Emma Gates,
Tapenisa Havea,
Neysia Howard,
Sailor Hutton,
Ajaysha Lewis,
Lauryn Love,
Alisa Lyesina,
Johnnie Mitchell,
Mackenna Orie,
Rylee Perkins,
Alexa Porpaczy,
Hollan Powers,
Antonia Sanchez Nunez,
Erin Tack,
Taylen Wise
FOLLOW THE WILDCATS!
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