CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Ole Miss track & field All-American junior Akaoma Odeluga put together one of the best shot put performances in collegiate history to lead a packed first day of competition for the Rebels at the Virginia Challenge on Friday.
Odeluga entered with a career-best 18.93m/62-01.25 from last March (and an outdoor season-best 17.42m/57-2 from March 21), but she left that PR in the dust with a monster one-foot improvement to 19.23m/63-01.25 in the third round. No one came within three feet of her winning mark, and with good reason.
That new best by Odeluga ranks her as the second-best all-time in both SEC and Ole Miss history behind Olympian Raven Saunders, who ranks ahead on the absolute collegiate list (19.56m/64-02.25; 2017 indoor), the absolute all-dates list (19.76m/64-10; 2017 outdoor) and the outdoor-only list (19.33m/63-5; 2016 outdoor).
Odeluga now ranks seventh in outdoor collegiate history, ninth in absolute collegiate history (across both the indoor and outdoor seasons), and 19th all-time among American women. For the 2026 season, Odeluga has taken the collegiate lead while ranking third worldwide for the outdoor season and eighth on the world absolute list for the calendar year.
Odeluga’s heroics in the shot put came mere hours after competing in the invitational section of the women’s hammer, where she finished sixth at 61.16m/200-8.
Fellow All-American and four-time NCAA shot put champion Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan had to run the same gauntlet, a useful test scenario for how the national schedule will unfold in Oregon for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in early June.
Robinson-O’Hagan won the men’s hammer invite with ease, taking the crown by 10.5 feet on his winning heave of 74.69m/245-0. And then later in the evening, he completed the double with an outdoor season-best 20.86m/68-05.25 – a new facility record that extends his collegiate lead and improves upon his spot at No. 7 on the 2026 world outdoor list.
Ole Miss had an excellent day on the track as well, highlighted by several fast distance races to close out the night.
Senior Kidus Misgina – two weeks removed from his 10K school record – moved up to No. 3 all-time at Ole Miss in the 5K at his runner-up time tonight of 13:31.19. Fellow senior Aiden Britt clocked an outdoor PR in seventh place at 13:43.19, an 11-second outdoor improvement that moved him to No. 7 on the all-time list.
Rebel seniors contributed all-time performances in the middle distance events as well. Evan Thornton-Sherman crossed the line at a career-best 3:39.42 in the invitational men’s 1500-meter (No. 6 all-time), while Chase Rose kept his superb senior season going strong with another 800-meter PR at 1:46.89 (No. 7 all-time).
The Rebel women received three equally fast times in their invitational 1500-meter, led by a near-PR by senior Loral Winn in 10th place at a season-best 4:15.50 – a quarter-second shy of her PR 4:15.25 run at the 2022 NCAA East Regional. Fellow seniors Sophie Baumann (4:16.73; No. 3 all-time) and Beth Arentz (4:18.15; No. 4 all-time) now give current Rebels three of the top-four performance slots all-time at Ole Miss.
In the sprints, sophomore Jordan Urrutia and freshman Patchnalie Compere took advantage of calm winds to get some fast (and legal) times in the books following their performances in the 100-meter dash on Friday.
Urrutia – who ran a PR into a headwind at the Joe Walker Invite last week – had to do so again in today’s 100-meter prelim, earning his qualifier into a -2.2 meters per second gust at a time of 10.59. Fellow sophomore Tarique Wright came narrowly close to joining him in the final, missing out by two hundredths of a second in ninth place at 10.71 into that same -2.2 headwind.
Urrutia went on to win the final with a friendlier wind at his back, crossing the line at an overall career-best 10.19 and a legal +0.3 wind reading – which improves upon his spot at No. 8 all-time at Ole Miss.
It was the same story for Compere in the women’s prelim, clocking the second-best qualifier of the day into a -1.4 reading at 11.58 before tying her overall PR as the runner-up in the final at 11.35 (+0.6) – improving on her spot at No. 6 in the Rebel record books.
In the invitational section of the women’s pole vault, redshirt sophomore Mary Cate Doughty put together a career day, clearing a half-foot PR of 4.23m/13-10.50 to finish as the runner-up and move to No. 4 all-time at Ole Miss outdoors.
Competition resumes for Ole Miss at 10:30 a.m. CT on Saturday with the women’s 100-meter hurdles.
REBELS IN DAY ONE COMPETITION
Women’s 100-Meter Dash – Prelims
2. Patchnalie Compere – 11.58q (-1.4) – Wind-Legal PR
25. Myla Reed – 11.96 (-1.4) – Wind-Legal PR
Women’s 100-Meter Dash – Final
2. Patchnalie Compere – 11.35 (+0.6) – PR, No. 6 Ole Miss History
Men’s 100-Meter Dash – Prelims
3. Jordan Urrutia – 10.59q (-2.2)
9. Tarique Wright – 10.71 (-2.2)
35. Joshua Knox – 10.87 (-2.2)
Men’s 100-Meter Dash – Final
1. Jordan Urrutia – 10.19 (+0.3) – PR, No. 8 Ole Miss History
Men’s 800-Meter – Invite
9. Chase Rose – 1:46.89 – Overall PR, No. 7 Ole Miss History Outdoors
23. Cade Flatt – 1:48.85 – Collegiate Best
Women’s 1500-Meter – Invite
10. Loral Winn – 4:15.50 – SB
12. Sophie Baumann – 4:16.73 – PR, No. 3 Ole Miss History
15. Beth Arentz – 4:18.15 – PR, No. 4 Ole Miss History
27. Ella Johnson – 4:24.81
Women’s 1500-Meter
8. Addy Mitchell – 4:28.50 – PR
12. Hannah Doyle – 4:29.77
30. Madison Archdale – 4:35.28
33. Zoe Marsh – 4:35.95
65. Brooke Preputnick – 4:44.34
Men’s 1500-Meter – Invite
3. Evan Thornton-Sherman – 3:39.42 – PR, No. 6 Ole Miss History
15. Gabe Scales – 3:43.04
21. Zack Gilbertson – 3:44.83 – PR
23. Sergio Del Barrio – 3:46.00 – Season Debut
32. John Shoemaker – 3:50.50
Men’s 5K
11. Owen Kelley – 14:38.32
Men’s 5K (Invite)
2. Kidus Misgina – 13:31.19 – Overall PR, No. 3 Ole Miss History Outdoors
7. Aiden Britt – 13:43.19 – Outdoor PR, No. 7 Ole Miss History Outdoors
20. Marco Perez – 14:09.50
Women’s 400-Meter Hurdles
37. Jordan Rochester – 1:05.17
Women’s High Jump
T13. Carmela Coulter – 1.62m/5-03.75 – Outdoor PR
Women’s Pole Vault – Invite
2. Mary Cate Doughty – 4.23m/13-10.50 – Overall PR, No. 4 Ole Miss History Outdoors
6. Lily Beattie – 4.13m/13-06.50
9. Katie McFarland – 4.03m/13-02.50 – Outdoor SB
NH Rachel Homoly
Women’s Pole Vault
T7. Aly Francolini – 3.75m/12-03.50
Women’s Long Jump
7. Lizzie Hatton – 6.11m/20-00.50 (-0.2)
9. Indya Dotson – 6.10m/20-00.25 (-0.4) – Overall PR, No. 14 Ole Miss History Outdoors
Women’s Shot Put – Invite
1. Akaoma Odeluga – 19.23m/63-01.25 – Overall PR, No. 2 SEC History Outdoors, No. 2 Ole Miss History Outdoors, No. 7 Outdoor Collegiate History, No. 9 Absolute Collegiate History, No. 19 American History, 2026 Collegiate Lead, World Absolute No. 8, World Outdoor No. 3, U.S. Absolute No. 2, U.S. Outdoor No. 2
7. Temidayo Owoyemi – 15.56m/51-00.75 – PR, No. 11 Ole Miss History Outdoors
Men’s Shot Put – Invite
1. Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan – 20.86m/68-05.25 – Outdoor SB, Facility Record, 2026 World Outdoor No. 7, U.S. No. 2, Collegiate Lead
Women’s Hammer – Invite
6. Akaoma Odeluga – 61.16m/200-8
7. Skylar Soli – 59.94m/196-8
Women’s Hammer
4. Nyah Edwards – 58.37m/191-6
24. Naomi Woolfolk – 50.10m/164-4
29. Temidayo Owoyemi – 48.30m/158-5
Men’s Hammer – Invite
1. Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan – 74.69m/245-0
8. Mason Hickel – 64.67m/212-2
9. Bryson Smith – 63.85m/209-5