FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Arizona Track & Field kicked off the 2023-24 indoor season on Friday with the NAU Friday Night Axe'em Open. The Wildcats put together an impressive opening performance, notching 15 top-three finishes which also included seven first-place victories. Of those seven wins, three came from freshmen making their collegiate debuts.
 
TOP-THREE FINISHES
Jade Brown – First, Women's 60m
Tapenisa Havea – First, Women's Shot Put
Tyler Michelini – First, Men's Shot Put
Diana Ramos – First, Women's High Jump
Jacob Samford – First, Men's 400m
Ava Simms – First, Women's 400m
McKenna Watson, Keilee Hall, Ava Simms, Antonia Sanchez Nunez – First, Women's 4x400m Relay
Camila Aguilar-Perez – Second, Women's 400m
Emma Gates – Second, Women's High Jump
Zach Landa – Second, Men's Shot Put
Trayvion White-Austin – Second, Men's 60m
Antonia Sanchez Nunez – Second, Women's 600m
Isaac Davis – Third, Men's 600m
Youssef Koudssi – Third, Men's Shot Put
Lauryn Love – Third, Women's Shot Put
 
FIELD HIGHLIGHTS
The Arizona Men notched a podium sweep in the shot put, finishing one, two, and three in the event. Freshman Tyler Michelini won the event with a throw late in the competition that pushed him over his teammate Zach Landa. Michelini's winning throw was 59-4.75 (18.10m), while Landa placed second with a toss of 59-4 (18.08m) and Youssef Koudssi finished in third with a mark of 58-5.75 (17.82m). Michael Ogbeiwi also posted a seventh-place finish.
 
To finish off the field events for the day, the Wildcats went one, three, and four in the women's shot put. Tapenisa Havea won the event with a new indoor personal best mark of 52-2.75 (15.92m). Lauryn Love also posted a personal record throw of 48-7.5 (14.82m) to finish third and freshman Haeyden Bambolo had a toss of 47-4.25 (14.43m) to finish fourth in her collegiate debut. Hollan Powers also had a PR throw of 39-3 (11.96m).
 
The Wildcats dominated the women's high jump and were led by senior Diana Ramos who won the event. Ramos posted a huge personal best clearance of 5-11.25 (1.81m) on her way to victory. Following Ramos, Emma Gates finished tied for second with a height of 5-5.75 (1.67m) and freshman Emily Psarras placed fourth.
 
To start off the day, freshman Olivia Dillon placed fourth in the women's pole vault in her collegiate debut with a clearance of 11-7.75 (3.55m). Malaya Abueg also placed fifth for the Wildcats in the event.
 
In the men's weight throw, Michael Ogbeiwi finished fourth with a heave of 60-3 (18.36m). In the women's weight throw, Ava David also placed fourth overall with a toss of 56-9.5 (17.31m). Additionally, Lauryn Love posted a personal best throw of 50-7.25 (15.42m) to finish eighth in the event.
 
TRACK HIGHLIGHTS
Two Arizona Women qualified for the finals in the women's 60m in a dominating fashion. Freshman Jade Brown and junior Jenica Bosko both won their heats while also finishing within the top four overall. Brown clocked a time of 7.35, which was the fastest time in the prelims and only 0.10 seconds off the Arizona school record. Bosko ran a PR time of 7.47 to finish fourth in the prelims. McKenna Watson also clocked a time of 7.59 in the prelims. Then in the event's finals, Brown came away victorious in her collegiate debut. She lowered her winning time to 7.32, now just 0.07 seconds off the school record. Bosko finished fifth as well with a time of 7.49.
 
Next in the men's 60m, two more Wildcats advanced to the finals. Trayvion White-Austin clocked a near personal best time of 6.72 to not only finish first in his heat, but first overall in the event's prelims as well. That time is also just 0.06 seconds off the Arizona school record. Pierce LaCoste ran a personal record time of 6.81 to finish eighth and advance in his Wildcat debut. Additionally, James Onanubosi finished with a time of 6.84 and Reinaldo Rodrigues ran a personal best time of 6.99. In the finals, White-Austin matched his personal best time of 6.70 and narrowly finished runner-up by only 0.01 seconds. LaCoste ran a 6.82 and placed eighth.
 
The freshmen's success continued in the women's 400m, as freshman Ava Simms won the event with a time of 55.67 in her collegiate debut. She was followed by Camila Aguilar-Perez who placed second with a time of 56.13 as the Wildcats finished one and two in the event. In his Wildcat debut, Jacob Samford made it a 400m sweep on the day, winning the men's 400m with a time of 47.95.
 
In the first running event of the day, Hollan Powers clocked a personal best time of 8.57 to finish fifth in the prelims of the women's 60m hurdles and advance to the finals. Then in the finals of the event, Powers lowered her personal best even further to a time of 8.48 and placed fourth overall. Fellow hurdler Taylen Wise finished 10th overall, just narrowly missing out on the top eight qualification mark.
 
In her collegiate indoor debut, Antonia Sanchez Nunez clocked a time of 1:33.73 and finished second overall in the women's 600m. Athena Montgomery also placed seventh in the event. Isaac Davis posted a third-place finish in the men's 600m, running a new personal best time of 1:20.96. Yan Vazquez also ran a personal best time in the event as he finished sixth with a time of 1:21.43.
 
In the women's 200m, freshman Dakota Minor finished fourth with a time of 25.16 and Lauryn Ford placed sixth with a time of 25.56. In the men's 200m, James Onanubosi also placed fourth with a time of 21.67.
 
In the prelims of the men's 60m hurdles, Logan Hasher finished ninth overall with a time of 8.45, missing out on advancing to the event's finals by just 0.03 seconds.
 
To cap off the night on the track, the Arizona Women's 4x400m relay team of McKenna Watson, Keilee Hall, Ava Simms, and Antonia Sanchez Nunez won the event with a time of 3:45.50.
 
UP NEXT
The action continues tomorrow with the Wildcat's distance crew in Seattle, Wash., for the University of Washington Preview which begins at 9:40 a.m. MST.
 
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