Alabama track and field athlete Joyce Oguama set a new school, meet, and NCAA season-leading record in the women’s discus with a throw of 62.13 meters during her collegiate debut at the Battle on the Bayou, according to an April 4 announcement from the university.
Oguama’s performance was one of several notable results for Alabama athletes at the event hosted by Louisiana State University. Her achievement not only established a new benchmark for Alabama but also marked the best mark in collegiate competition so far this season.
Christopher Crawford finished third in men’s discus with a personal-best throw of 60.49 meters, which moved him to eighth all-time in program history. On the track, Isaiah Patrick placed eighth in the men’s 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.90 seconds, tying for ninth-fastest ever at Alabama. The men’s 4×400-meter relay team—composed of Mouatez Sikiou, Samuel Ogazi, David Thid, and Alexander Osayemi—recorded a time of 3:01.64, ranking as the third-fastest time nationally this season and eighth all-time for Alabama.
Head coach Dan Waters said: “Overall, it was a solid weekend for us with several good individual performances. Joyce had a strong debut with a meet and school record and an NCAA-leading mark, and the men’s 4×400 relay posted the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season. We also saw several others take positive steps in their first outdoor competitions of the season. We’re in the middle of some heavy training loads right now, so it was a good opportunity to compete and continue to build. There’s still plenty for us to improve on, but this helped set a good foundation. Now our focus shifts to getting ready for our home meet on Friday.”
Other top finishes included John O’Donnell placing twelfth in men’s 800 meters (1:49.69), Tarsis Orogot finishing thirteenth in men’s 100 meters (10.27), Judith Mokobe taking twelfth place among women in 200 meters (11.50), Diamonasia Taylor securing sixth place in women’s high jump (1.71m), Khristian Watson earning eighth place among men (2.06m) in high jump; Christopher Young finished fifth (59.68m) behind Crawford’s third-place discus result; Young also placed fourth while Crawford took third place again—this time both competing in shot put.
Alabama is scheduled to host its annual Crimson Tide Invitational next Friday.
