For 56 years, a men’s indoor mile record stood for Kent State’s track and field team.

Saturday, that record was broken as sophomore Baidy Ba ran a sub 4:00 mile at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.

Ba broke the school record by running a 3:59.47 mile time, beating his performance last week by more than two seconds. Ba placed fifth in the race.

“It’s one of the biggest miles in the country,” coach Nathan Fanger said. “Getting invited to that was a big accomplishment, but Baidy Ba goes and drops the school record and kills it.”

Junior Ethan Yost also put his name in the record books for the men’s indoor mile. He ran a 4:06.87, making it his personal best and putting him in ninth place all-time for Kent State. He placed eight in the race.

Yost went on to put himself in the record books again with his performance in the men’s 800-meter race. He finished fifth with a 1:50.55 time, placing him fifth all-time in school history.

Junior Joe Farley also put his name in the record books with his performance in the 5K race.

He finished with a time of 14:14.41 and placed fourth in the race. Farley’s performance in the 5K was third-fastest in program history.

Freshman Karsyn Spears posted a personal record time in the 800 meter women’s race, placing fourth with a time of 2:11.50.

Akron Invitational 

The team also sent athletes to the Akron Invitational this weekend that was highlighted by freshmen Mason Murphy and Josh Dreves.

They placed third and fourth, respectively in the overall men’s heptathlon.

“They are going in the right direction,” Fanger said. “They have a good career ahead of them so as long as they stay healthy I think they’re slowly building the confidence that they need.”

Graduate student Grace Luther and redshirt senior Briana Wright showed their strength in the women’s weight throw as they finished in second and third, respectively.

Luther’s second-place performance was marked at 60’-8.75” and Wright’s third-place performance was a personal-best 56’-3.75”.

The women’s 400 meter dash produced two personal records as graduate student Ruby Greenwood and junior Taylor Korytkowski placed first and second. Greenwood was recorded at 56.18 seconds and Korytkowski at 56.84.

Fanger said his sprinters will head to Vanderbilt next week while the other athletes will travel to the Spire indoor games.

“The big one comes next week before the conference meets,” said coach Fanger. “That’s really the true test of where everyone is at.”

The Spire indoor games will take place on Saturday in Ashtabula, Ohio. The Music City Challenge will take place on Friday and Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee.

Matthew Franos is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].