On April 19 and 20, Oakland University track and field closed its regular season by hosting its third annual Elaine Leigh Invite, which brought together high school athletes, collegiate athletes and community members.
The annual meet is named after the late Elaine Leigh, who was a longtime supporter of OU athletics. She is also the namesake of the Elaine Leigh Track and Field Complex, the grounds for the event and OU’s outdoor track.
“In 2021, Elaine’s husband John, who’s been very active over the years in athletics, wanted to leave some kind of lasting legacy here when he had the idea of having Elaine Leigh’s name put permanently on our facility here,” head coach Paul Rice said. “We had a meet here to dedicate the facility to him and Elaine’s name that year.”
Although the meet was initially intended to be a one-time event, John’s interest and financial contribution allowed it to become an annual meet.
“We’ve been going ever since with his great generosity,” he said. “The tickets, the entry fees, anything like that we do with this weekend goes right into our program for fundraising.”
Although John passed away in December 2023, Rice said he intends to keep the legacy going.
“We’re without both John and Elaine, but I plan to keep it living as long as we can keep it going. His funding is still there. His generosity is going to keep this going for years,” Rice said.
The events began at 12:30 p.m. on April 19. The Friday field events consisted of the pole vault, hammer throw, javelin and long jump, while runners ran the 5000-meter, 10000-meter, 1500-meter and 3200-meter.
A unique trait of the invite is the participation of high school students, an element that John was interested in adding to showcase OU’s facilities and program. Several high school events were hosted on the evening of April 19 — the girls’ and boys’ 400-meter, 800-meter, 1600-meter, 3200-meter and 4×800-meter.
OU is the next destination for several of the high school competitors, including Bryce Nowik.
“I’m excited, definitely,” Nowik, who competed in the boys’ 800 and placed 3rd with a 1:59.46, said. “The guy ahead of me, Tyler Donovan, both me and him are both coming here next year. I think it’s a lot of fun to race some of the guys I’ll be working out with next year.”
Addison Johnson shared a similar sentiment.
“It’s so exciting. Just visualizing what it’s going to be like to come here and race — I’m really excited,” Johnson said after running the girls’ 3200.
Other community members, including members from the Hansons-Brooks Original Distance Project, which is based in Rochester Hills, participated in the events.
“One of the big things with our team is community, so it’s super cool to represent our professional team here,” Angie Rafter of HBDP said. The Hansons team participated in a special 3200-meter event. “It’s obviously encouraging those next generations to come on through. We’re like that pipeline for them.”
Highlights from OU’s field team include Jamie Giese’s first-place performance in the women’s hammer throw with 46.10m; Alexa Messina’s first-place finish in the women’s pole vault with a height of 3.55m; Elizabeth Rice’s personal best with a 44.28m hammer throw; and Blake Foster’s personal best in the men’s hammer throw with 52.27m.
Highlights from the track team include a first-place finish from Yami Albrecht in the men’s 1500; a personal best from Makenna Scott with a time of 17 minutes, 25.22 seconds in the women’s 5k; a personal best from Genavieve Kushner-Lopez in the women’s 5k with 18 minutes, 11.18 seconds; a personal best from Anne May in the women’s 5k with 18 minutes, 48.41 seconds; and a career-best from Carter McCalister in the men’s 1500 with 3 minutes, 57.56 seconds.
On Saturday, the remaining field events — discus, shot put, triple jump and high jump — were held in the morning. Following the senior recognition and presentation of the cross country team’s championship ring ceremony, the bulk of the track events concluded the invite.
Field’s highlights of the day included a first-place finish and a career-best shot put from Alex Mansfield of 16.33m, and Rice earned a personal best in the women’s discus throw with 29.56m.
Track’s highlights included a personal best from Abby Jackson in the women’s 400-meter with 58.88 seconds; a first-place finish by Justin Kudera in the men’s 400 with 48.92 seconds; a personal best of 49.81 seconds in the men’s 400 from Julian Bailey; a first-and-second-place finish by William Harrell II and Yami Albrecht in the men’s 800-meter with 1 minute, 53.69 seconds and 1 minute, 54.25 seconds times respectively; a personal best from Josiah Magely in the men’s 800 with a time of 1 minute, 58.22 seconds; a first-place finish from Ashley Quinn in the women’s 800 with 2 minutes, 14.67 seconds; a personal best from Erin Hegarty in the women’s 800 with 2 minutes, 21.66 seconds; a first-place finish in the women’s 400 hurdles by Grace Hungerford with a time of 1 minute, 3.95 seconds; and a first-place finish by Romario Jackson in the men’s discus throw.
For some track and field team members, including Brooke Hinkelman, the invite marks the beginning of the end of their collegiate running careers.
“It’s really sad to be a part of it for one more time, but I’m also happy to be a part of it,” she said. “It’s great to see that we can have so many people come out and not only support local high school athletes but also college athletes that are running.”
“Whether we’re running or racing, it’s just fun to be a part of,” Hinkelman added.
The full list of results from the event can be found online at Michiana Timing.
The Horizon League Championships for track and field will also be hosted on OU’s campus from May 3 through 5. For more track and field news, visit the team’s news tab on the OU Athletics website.
