On Saturday, the Kenyon track and field team traveled to Wittenberg University to participate in the Steemer Showcase, an unscored meet with 20 teams from across the country. 

For the women’s track and field team, Paula Sorić ’25 made headlines as she broke the Kenyon triple jump record not once but twice, first with a jump of 11.53 meters and then with a jump of 11.60 meters. Sorić set the previous record of 11.47 meters in December. Despite her record-breaking jump, she finished second in the event overall. Finishing off a productive day, Sorić also came in fifth in the long jump event with a distance of 5.22 meters. The Owls also earned a fourth-place finish in the 4×400 relay, run by Denna Medrano ’23, Anna Brown ’26, Logan Vidal ’25 and Maya Virdell ’24, with a time of 4:17.99. In the 5,000-meter event, Ella Wilson ’23 finished eighth out of 21 runners with a time of 19:24.21.

In an email to the Collegian, Sorić described the feeling of breaking her own record. “I’ve been lingering around the 11.45-meter mark for a while now, and as much as I knew I was going to surpass it eventually, I was honestly surprised by how big the improvement is.” Despite the achievement, Sorić is far from done. “I feel accomplished; it seems like [breaking records] is becoming a routine which makes me feel even more excited for upcoming meets,” she said.

On the men’s side, the Owls’ best finish came in the 60-meter dash. Tapiwa Gono Phiri ’25 came in fourth overall out of 50 runners with a time of 7.10 seconds after finishing atop his preliminary heat. In the long distance events, Peter Bernhardt ’25 secured the only other top-10 finish for the men’s team with a time of 4:27.14 in the one-mile event. 

Last season, Gono Phiri claimed the NCAC titles in the 60-meter and 100-meter events. In an email to the Collegian, he reflected on what it will take for him to repeat at this year’s NCAC Championships. “I have to work hard for me to defend it. Clearly, the title is for anyone at the moment. Only the best will be good enough for that title. I am a work in progress.”

The Owls next meet is on Saturday, when they will travel to face Denison University.