The two-day Doug Raymond Invitational track and field meet yielded great success for the Kent State men’s and women’s track teams inside the Kent State University Field House.
Coach Nathan Fanger said, “The meet was a little weird because people were sick.”
Despite the sickness, the Flashes continued to shine against their opponents, break school records and achieve personal records.
Men’s Team
Ayden Bath
With a total of 5,407 points, sophomore Ayden Bath won the men’s heptathlon and claimed the fifth spot on the Flashes’ all-time performance.
Bath placed first in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.07 seconds.
He then secured a personal record on the pole vault at a height of 13’-5.25”.
He also went 3:03.45 in the 1,000-meter run.
Mason Murphy
With a total of 4,702 points, sophomore Mason Murphy got a new personal best.
Murphy placed 5th in the long jump with 6.20m.
He also placed 5th in the shot put with 11.14m.
Coach’s Thoughts
Fanger was pleased with their performance.
“I’m just really proud of them,” Fanger said. “They haven’t really been able to do the multis because they have been doing single events.”
Bath and Murphy had to take on some more events due to the absence of their sick teammates.
“We are really excited to see them both get personal records. It’s really nice to see their improvements,” Fanger said.
Women’s Team
Azsah Bradley
Senior Azsah Bradley ran 7.51 seconds to win the 60-meter dash. Her time ties the second-fastest time in Kent State history.
The previous day, during preliminaries, Bradley placed second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.61.
Taylor Korytkowski
Senior Taylor Korytkowski placed third in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.62 seconds.
She is tied for eighth in the program’s all-time performance list after running 7.58 in the preliminaries.
Korytkowski also placed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.11.
Coach’s Thoughts
Fanger was thrilled about the consistency on the women’s team.
“Consistency is the best word that we would use,” Fanger said. “They have been pretty true to that.”
Fanger is happy with the improvements on the women’s team.
“It hasn’t always been consistent in the past. So it’s nice to have them back-to-back consistent in their races,” Fanger said.
Up Next
Moving forward, the Flashes have back-to-back meets.
They will attend the Akron Invitational on Feb. 2, then hit the road and head to Indiana for the Meyo Invitational from Feb. 2-3.
The Flashes look to continue their all-around team success after seeing three athletes earn top-10 all-time marks in school history.
Robyn Taylor is a reporter. Contact her @[email protected].
