The Griffin track and field teams kicked off 2023 at the Capital University Comet Opener on Saturday in Columbus, OH.  

The teams combined for twenty five top five finishes including four first place finishes.  

The women's team had a total of fourteen top five finishes and one first place finish from Darby Roth.  Roth led a group of Griffins in the mile, finishing in a time of 5:17.77.  Isabella Myles was second in the mile with a time of 5:20.64.  Alexis Cunningham (5:20.77), Isabelle McCabe (5:42.45) and Kate Pipilo (5:44.99) rounded out the top five in the mile.  

Alyson Taylor had a second place finish in the long jump with a mark of 5.24m.  Taylor was also fourth in the 60 hurdles in a time of 9.71 seconds.  Sarah Gilliam and Blair Harris each had two top five finishes in the throwing events.  Gilliam was third in the weight throw (13.65m) and fourth in the shot put (11.25m).  Harris was third in the shot (11.30m) and fourth in the weight throw (13.50m).  Layla Robertson finished third in the 200 (27.61 seconds) and fifth in the 60 hurdles (10.01).  Rebekah Daniszewski finished fifth in the shot put with a toss of 11.09 meters.  

Hunter Martin led the men's team with two first place finishes.  Hunter won the long jump with a leap of 6.95 meters and the triple jump with a mark of 13.22 meters.  Martin was also third in the 60 hurdles (8.63).  Gabriel McConville was first in the mile run in a time of 4:19.90.  

Andrew Campbell was second in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.11 seconds with Zakharee Williams placing third in a time of 7.11 seconds.  Ben Kissel was third in the pole vault, clearing 4.00 meters.  John Giansante placed third in the long jump with a mark of 6.44 meters.  Nicholas Seto was third in the triple jump with a leap of 12.12 meters.  Angelo Allen placed third in the shot put with a toss of 14.48 meters.  Ben Hartman added a fourth place finish in the 60 hurdles with a time of 8.69 seconds.  

The teams will take part in the SPIRE invitational next weekend in Geneva, Ohio.