Akron Set to Host Al Campbell Invitational

Friday, February 16

Akron, Ohio

4:00 PM

University of Akron

Fifth Annual Al Campbell Invitational

Tickets

February 15 | Track & Field

AL CAMPBELL INVITATIONAL: MEET INFORMATION (PDF) | LIVE STATS

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron men's and women's track and field teams will welcome a 10-team field to the Stile Athletics Field House for the Zips' final tune-up before the Mid-American Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, Feb. 23-24, as the squad hosts the Fifth Annual Al Campbell Invitational on Friday, Feb. 16.

DIGITAL TICKETING: Mobile tickets are available for $10 at www.GoZips.com/tickets and must be purchased in advance. Mobile ticketing will be utilized for all home Akron track and field meets this season. Akron students with valid ID will be admitted free of charge. All fans should enter through the Akron student recreation center main entrance. Doors will open to the public at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.

REMEMBERING COACH AL CAMPBELL: This marks the fifth year that Akron's final indoor meet of the regular season has been named in honor of the late Zips' track and field coach Al Campbell. Formerly the Zips Invitational, the meet was dedicated with Campbell in attendance at the 2019 Campbell/Wright Invitational.

Akron's final home outdoor meet was named in his honor in 1996 before later being billed as the Campbell/Wright Invitational in 2003.

Campbell, who passed away in December of 2019, spent over 30 years as a coach and educator at the University of Akron, while also coaching women's teams at Walsh University for nearly 20 years.

A four-year letterwinner for the Zips in track and cross country, Campbell earned his bachelor's degree in education from Akron in 1964.

A graduate of Garfield High School in Akron, Campbell first burst onto Akron sports scene as a freshman in 1960 when he garnered first-place finishes, while establishing course records, in the initial two races of his Zips' career. In 1960, Campbell won the Touchdown Club Award as the Most Valuable Runner as a freshman. It was an honor Campbell was to receive in all four years of varsity competition – an achievement reached by no other Akron runner before or since.

Campbell was a member of three undefeated track teams that captured the Ohio Conference Championships in 1961 (9-0), '62 (8-0) and '63 (8-0). The latter two seasons the Zips captured the NCAA Mideast Regional title as well. By the time Campbell concluded his career with another MVP Award in track he owned the records in the 2-mile, 3-mile and 4-mile events.

UP NEXT: The Zips welcome Buffalo, Kent State, Malone, Marietta, Mount Union, Ohio, Walsh, Westminster (Pa.) and Youngstown State to the Stile Athletics Field House for the Al Campbell Invitational on Friday (Feb. 16).

The 29-event meet will commence with the men's high jump and weight throw and women's long jump, pole vault and shot put at 4 p.m. Competition concludes with the 4x400 relay at 7:15 p.m.

Live stats of the Al Campbell Invitational will be available at GoZips.com.

A WEEK AGO: The University of Akron track and field team competed at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Mass., and the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.

• Sophomore Brian Masai (Kitale, Kenya) crossed the line in the men's 3,000 meters in a school-record time of 8:02.50, bettering his own career-best time of 8:04.14 set the 2023 Mid-American Conference Championships.
• Freshman Titus Kirui (Eldoret, Kenya) registered a career-best time of 8:04.27 in the men's 3,000 meters, the second-fastest effort in indoor program history.
• Adding career-best times of 1:55.21 and 8:30.84 in the men's 800 and 3,000 meters, respectively, was freshman Majid Abuaun (Rocky River, Ohio) and redshirt senior Kyle Stober (Mogadore, Ohio), while redshirt senior Chase Easterling (Mt. Orab, Ohio) tallied an Akron-best time of 14:39.81 in the men's 5,000 meters.
• The women's 4x400 relay team of sophomore Vanessa Horn (Ludwigsfelde, Germany), junior Jamari Davis (Ontario, Calif.), sophomore Jade Celestine (Ajax, Ontario) and junior Joy Nwokike (Benin City, Nigeria) crossed the line in 3:42.84, a mere six one-hundredths of a second shy of shattering the school record time of 3:42.79 set in 2016.
• The men's 4x400 relay squad of redshirt senior Charles Sanders (Cincinnati, Ohio), freshmen Andrew Styles (Freeport, The Bahamas) and AJ Jordan (Columbus, Ohio) and redshirt junior Jimmy Harkelroad (Huron, Ohio) posted the fourth-fastest time in indoor program history crossing the line in 3:11.34.
• Junior Cassidy Allen (Lakewood, N.Y.) eclipsed a career-best mark of 12-8.75 (3.88m) to place seventh in the women's pole vault.
• Freshman Mary Munga (Nyandarua, Kenya) narrowly missed posting a top-five time in indoor women's program history crossing the line in a career-best time of 4:53.82 in the women's mile.
• Garretson equaled a career-best mark of 18-5.25 (5.62m) which tied for the top clearance in the competition, but he placed third based on jumps.

GARRETSON AND MASAI EARN MAC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK ACCOLADES: Hunter Garretson and Brian Masai were honored by the Mid-American Conference as its Men's Track and Field Athletes of the Week, the league announced on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The University of Akron track and field teams have garnered recognition for their efforts during the 2024 indoor season as the Zips are rated among the top-30 in the Event Squad rankings released on Feb. 12, 2024, as part of the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Rating Index.

Akron ranked 18th nationally in the men's shot put, 26th in the men's weight throw and 28th in the men's pole vault.

ZIPS RANK AMONG NATION'S BEST IN 2024 TFRRS RANKINGS: Akron has one student-athlete ranked in the top-50 nationally by the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) for the 2024 indoor campaign, including, Hunter Garretson, who is third in the nation in the men's pole vault (18-5.25/5.62m).

Additionally, the distance medley relay squad of Titus Kirui, freshman Braylyn Farrington (Alabaster, Ala.), redshirt junior Jean Dieuvil (North Miami Beach, Fla.) and Brian Masai is ranked seventh (9:43.92).

GARRETSON NAMED ELITE 90 WINNER: Hunter Garretson was the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2023 NCAA Division Men's Track and Field Indoor Championship.

Garretson, majoring in mathematics, boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA was presented with the award during the presentation. He became the second Zip to earn the distinguished honor joining Tyler Sanda, who won the award as a member of the Akron men's soccer team in 2015.

GARRETSON GARNERS ALL-AMERICA ACCOLADES: Hunter Garretson garnered First-Team All-America accolades on the strength of a second-place showing (18-8.25/5.70m) at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of Texas on June 7. William Gross garnered Second-Team All-America honors placing 16th in the men's hammer (221-3/67.45m), while Charles Sanders and Brian Masai were named Honorable Mention All-America recipients in the men's 400 meters and 5,000 meters, respectively.

CRACKING THE ALL-TIME TOP-FIVE PERFORMANCES: The Zips have added eight overall top-five performance in program history to the record book during the 2024 indoor campaign.

Indoor

NAME	EVENT/DATE	RANK – MARK
Jabari Neal-Jackson	Weight Throw – Jan. 19	No. 4 – 65-8 (20.03m)
Titus Kirui, Braylyn Farrington, Jean Dieuvil, Brian Masai	Men's DMR – Jan. 27	No. 2 – 9:43.92
Vanessa Horn, Jamari Davis, Jade Celestine, Adaeze Nwokike	Women's 4x400 Relay – Jan. 27	No. 3 – 3:44.78
Sharon Chepchirchir	Women's 5,000M – Jan. 27	No. 3 – 16:57.32
Hunter Garretson	Pole Vault – Feb. 2/Feb. 9	No. 3 – 18-5.25 (5.62m)
Brian Masai	Men's 3,000M – Feb. 10	No. 1 – 4:02.50
Vanessa Horn, Jamari Davis, Jade Celestine, Joy Nwokike	Women's 4x400 Relay – Feb. 10	No. 2 – 3:42.84
Charles Sanders, Andrew Styles, AJ Jordan, Jimmy Harkelroad	Men's 4x400 Relay – Feb. 10	No. 5 – 3:11.34