Israel Oloyede, a muscular Arizona junior, competes in the hammer throw by flinging a 16-pound ball attached to his hand grip by a long wire. Johnnie Blockburger, a lanky freshman, propels his long strides around the 400-meter track with blistering speed.
Now they share one thing in common: They’re the best in Arizona track and field school history in their respective events.
At Saturday’s Jim Click Shootout at the UA’s Drachman Stadium, Oloyede vaulted into the Arizona record books with a throw of 239 feet, 2 inches. Pending results of other weekend meets, his toss ranks No. 2 in the NCAA. Oloyede last month placed second in the indoor NCAA weight throw.
“His athleticism is really the key,” head coach Fred Harvey has said about Oloyede’s ability in the weight throw, which also comes into play in the hammer throw.
“His balance, his coordination, his size are obviously key factors, but his ability to be able to transfer these forces at that level — that’s what really takes him to that level.”
Blockburger, a graduate of Tucson High School, whipped around the track in 44.71 seconds, cutting more than a second from his previous best time and shattering the school record of 45.31, set in 2008 by Bobby McCoy.
Johnnie Blockburger
“Johnnie has that type of skill set to be one of the elite 400-meter runners in the country, if not the world,” Harvey said in a news release. “That was definitely the performance of the meet.”
Blockburger also ran the anchor leg on the men’s winning 4x400 meters relay team, following Isaac Davis, Calvin Wilson and Logan Hasher.
In another top performance, Samantha Noennig captured the women’s shot put with a mark of 59-6¼, the No. 1 toss in the NCAA listings.
That’s the exact distance she achieved in winning the 2019 NCAA championship while then competing for Arizona State. She also ended up second in the discus at 174-5.
Jordan Geist threw 65-¼ to win the men’s shot put, ranking him No. 5 so far in the national standings. Geist also finished second to Oloyede in the hammer throw.
In the women’s 400-meter hurdles, Wildcat junior Shannon Meisberger won in 56.61, lifting her to third in the national standings. She also ran the first lap on the UA’s second-place 4x400 relay team, followed by Neysia Howard, Grace Reinholz and Alyssa Blockburger, Johnnie’s twin sister. Howard was third in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
The Wildcats swept the women’s high jump with Lillian Lowe capturing first, Alexa Porpaczy second and Karla Teran third. All cleared 5-10 with places decided on fewer misses.
Diana Ramos was fourth at 5-6. Justice Summerset cleared 7-¼ to place second in the men’s event. Victor Ortiz-Rivera placed second in the 1,500 (3:38.02) and Kaelyn Carlson-Shipley was third in the women’s javelin (163-11).
The meet drew teams from ASU, BYU, NAU, Washington and Kansas State and was held under strict pandemic-era conditions.
Athletes were directed to wear their masks until their time to compete, and coaches were not permitted in the track infield. Only family members of the competing teams were allowed in the stands.
Arizona will host the West Coast Classic on Saturday, with events in the sprints and jumps.
Wildcat distance runners and throwers will head to Eugene, Oregon, for the events. The twin meets were scheduled when the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California, was canceled for collegiate athletes because of COVID-19 precautions.
