The Oberlin men’s and women’s indoor track and field squads kicked off their 2006-2007 campaign with a two-day competition at Kent State University the weekend of Dec. 8 and 9. The teams were represented by a handful of runners rather than the entire squads.

Both teams performed exceptionally well on the first day. Many players set personal records in their events and came nail-bitingly close to setting new school records.

On the Yeomen’s end, senior John Shaw — alongside sophomores Everett Schlawin, Conor Doss and Corey Squire — ran in the 5,000-meter competition. Shaw came in first out of the four teammates, securing an eighth place finish with a final time of 15:35.53. Schlawin, Doss and Squire finished the race extremely close to each other. They posted times of 15.57, 16.00 and 16.02, respectively. Each of these times was a personal best for these four athletes.

Sophomore Maddy Davis-Hayes performed extremely well in the 5,000-meter run, narrowly missing the school record but setting a personal record with a time of 17:57 and a fourth place finish.

On Saturday, the teams returned for the second day of the competition. Bolstered by their performance in the previous days events, both squads continued their impressive performances throughout Saturday’s competition.

The Yeowomen were led by sophomore Flannery Cerbin who posted an incredible second place finish in the one mile run with a time of 5:14.39. She missed the school record by only one second. Not to be deterred, Cerbin moved on to the 800-meter run where she placed seventh with a time of 2:21.60. She was accompanied in this race by teammate sophomore Nicky Ouellet, who finished right behind Cerbin with a time of 2:24.06. This was a personal best for Ouellet. Lastly, junior Chisara Nwabara impressed onlookers with her leap of 15’4.25” in the long jump.

Sophomore Ryan King held strong for the men’s team in the 3,000 meter run, securing an eighth place finish with a final time of 9:02.42.

The indoor teams will compete again at a home meet on Jan. 19. The Oberlin College Invitational will kick off at 6 p.m.