Trio of Meets Ahead for Akron Track and Field

DAVID HERMERY VALENTINE INVITATIONAL: MEET INFORMATION (PDF) | LIVE RESULTS | FRIDAY STREAM ($) | SATURDAY STREAM ($)
DOUG RAYMOND INVITATIONAL: MEET INFORMATION (PDF) | LIVE RESULTS
WINDY CITY INVITE: MEET INFORMATION (PDF) | LIVE RESULTS

AKRON, Ohio – The University of Akron track and field team is set to compete in a trio of meets this weekend as the Zips participate in the David Hemery Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University, the Doug Raymond Invitational hosted by Kent State and the Windy City Invitational hosted by Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 14-15).

UP NEXT: The bulk of Akron's squad will travel to Kent, Ohio, to participate in the Doug Raymond Invitational.

Freshman Bismack Kipchirchir (Eldama Ravine, Kenya) and Moses Lekokei (Kilgoris, Kenya) are amongst the men's distance field at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Friday (Feb. 14) before sophomores Megan Hipple (Warren, Ohio) and Mary Munga (Nyandarua, Kenya) and freshman Mercy Jebitok (Kapsabet, Kenya) hit the track on Saturday (Feb. 15).

A contingent of Akron sprinters are slated to compete at the Windy City Invite hosted by Wisconsin in Chicago, Ill., on Friday and Saturday.

Live stats will be available at GoZips.com.

A WEEK AGO: Akron registered six victories as part of 24 overall top five performances across a trio of weekend meets.

The Zips participated at the Sykes and Sabock Invitational hosted by Penn State and the Michigan Invitational hosted by Michigan on Feb. 8 as well as the Doc Hale Invitational at Virginia Tech on Feb. 7.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Redshirt senior Hunter Garretson (Newcomerstown, Ohio) registered a career-best mark of 18-10.75 (5.76m) to win the elite pole vault at the Doc Hale Invitational.
• Sophomore AJ Jordan (Columbus, Ohio) bested the field in the men's 200 meters in a time of 21.49.
• Senior Cassidy Allen (Lakewood, N.Y.) eclipsed 13-0.25 (3.97m) to earn the victory in the women's pole vault.
• Mercy Jebitok captured the women's 3,000 meters in a career-best time of 9:45.11, the fifth-fastest performance in indoor program history.
• Freshman Rukia Omulisia (Nairobi, Kenya) crossed the line first in the women's 60-meter hurdles in a career-best time of 8.48, the fourth-fastest effort in indoor program history.
• The men's 4x400 relay team of sophomore Braylyn Farrington (Alabaster, Ala.), redshirt senior Jimmy Harkelroad (Huron, Ohio), Jordan and sophomore Andrew Styles (Freeport, Bahamas) crossed the line first in 3:13.00.

GARRETSON NAMED MAC TRACK ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Hunter Garretson was tabbed by the Mid-American Conference as its Men's Field Athlete of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday (Feb. 11).

Garretson captured the men's pole vault at the Doc Hale Invitational on Feb. 7 with a career-best clearance of 18-10.75 (5.76m), the second-best mark in the NCAA this season.

AKRON CROSS COUNTRY EARNS USTFCCCA ALL-ACADEMIC ACCOLADES: The Akron cross country team under the leadership of Zips' director of track and field/cross country Kendra Reimer-Gonzales and cross country head coach Evans Kiptoo garnered recognition for the squad's efforts in the classroom as the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) tabbed Akron a Division I All-Academic team for the 2024 campaign.

The Akron men's squad was honored for recording a 3.335 GPA, while the women's team garnered recognition for its work in the classroom for the 11th straight year with a 3.356 cumulative GPA.

Overall, 209 women's teams and 183 men's teams earned All-Academic team honors.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The University of Akron track and field teams have garnered recognition for their efforts during the 2025 indoor season as the Zips are rated among the Top 30 in the Event Squad rankings for three events released on Feb. 11, 2025, as part of the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field National Rating Index.

Akron is rated 15th nationally in the women's weight throw, 16th in the men's shot put and 28th in the men's weight throw.

ZIPS RANK AMONG NATION'S BEST IN 2025 TFRRS RANKINGS: Akron have one individual student-athlete ranked in the Top 50 nationally by the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) for the 2025 indoor campaign as Hunter Garretson is second in the nation in the men's pole vault (18-10.75/5.76m).

GARRETSON NAMED ELITE 90 WINNER: Hunter Garretson was the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2024 NCAA Division Men's Track and Field Indoor Championship.

Garretson, who is majoring in mathematics, boasts a perfect 4.0 GPA, was presented with the award during a presentation on March 8.

Winning the honor for the second consecutive season, Garretson became only the third multiple-time recipient of the award in Division I men's track and field joining Cincinnati's Adrian Valles (2017-Indoor | 2018-Indoor) and Nebraska's John Welk (2013-Outdoor | 2014-Outdoor).

The honor was the third time a Zip has garnered the distinguished honor joining Tyler Sanda, who won the award as a member of the Akron men's soccer team in 2015.

CRACKING THE ALL-TIME TOP FIVE PERFORMANCES: The Zips have added 16 overall top-five performances and one school record in program history to the record book during the 2025 indoor campaign.

NAME	EVENT/DATE	RANK – MARK
Keegan Digby	Shot Put – Dec. 6	No. 5 – 57-6.25 (17.53m)
Brook Boes	Weight Throw – Dec. 6	No. 5 – 64-7 (19.68m)
Joy Nwokike	Women's 400M – Dec. 6	No. 3 – 54.97
Joy Nwokike	Women's 200M – Dec. 6	No. 4 – 24.09
Joy Nwokike	Women's 200M – Jan. 10	No. 2 – 23.94
Joy Nwokike	Women's 400M – Jan. 11	No. 3 – 54.56
Joy Nwokike	Women's 200M – Jan. 17	No. 1 – 23.79
Joy Nwokike	Women's 400M – Jan. 17	No. 3 – 54.46
Bismack Kipchirchir	Men's 3,000M – Jan. 17	No. 4 – 8:08.57
Hunter Garretson	Men's Pole Vault – Jan. 17	No. 3 – 18-10.50 (5.75m)
Keegan Digby	Men's Shot Put – Jan. 17	No. 5 – 58-3.25 (17.76m)
Mary Munga	Women's Mile – Jan. 25	No. 5 – 4:50.08
Bismack Kipchirchir	Men's Mile – Jan. 31	No. 4 – 4:05.32
Hunter Garretson	Men's Pole Vault – Feb. 7	No. 3 – 18-10.75 (5.76m)
Mercy Jebitok	Women's 3,000M – Feb. 8	No. 5 – 9:45.11
Rukia Omulisia	Women's 60MH – Feb. 8	No. 4 – 8.48

TOP MARKS:
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Players Mentioned

Cassidy Allen

Brook Boes

Keegan Digby

Braylyn Farrington

Hunter Garretson

Jimmy Harkelroad

Megan Hipple

Mercy Jebitok

AJ Jordan

Bismack Kipchirchir

Moses Lekokei

Mary Munga

Joy Nwokike

Rukia Omulisia

Andrew Styles

The University of Akron Athletics