Records are made to be broken, junior Israel Oloyede and freshman Johnnie Blockburger made it look too easy. Both competed for the track and field team in the Jim Click Shootout on April 8-10.
Daily Wildcat Co-Player of the Week: Israel Oloyede
Oloyede competed in the hammer throw for the Wildcats. Having not done as well in his previous attempts, the event came down to the final throw for Oloyede. The pressure must have worked, because Oloyede threw the hammer a monster distance of 72.91 meters. Oloyede’s throw not only broke the school record, but it was also far enough for an Olympics Trials qualifying mark. On top of all those amazing accomplishments, Oloyede was the only thrower to eclipse the 70-meters mark.
Daily Wildcat Co-Player of the Week: Johnnie Blockburger
After already breaking the Arizona freshman record for the 400 meters at the Willie Williams Classic on March 19-20, Blockburger felt it was time to stand alone atop the record books. This week at the Jim Click Shootout, Blockburger finished with a time of 44.71, crushing his previous record. Blockburger is now the fastest 400-meter sprinter in University of Arizona school history. Blockburger also became the first Wildcat to run the 400 meters in under 45 seconds. Head coach Fred Harvey said he was proud of his star runner.
“[Blockburger] has that type of skill set to be one of the elite 400 meter runners in the country, if not the world,” Harvey said to Arizona Athletics. “I think his race really lifted the squad, both men and women, when they saw that. That was definitely the performance of the meet.”
Daily Wildcat Team of the Week: Arizona baseball team
The No. 22 Arizona baseball team had another big weekend, winning their series against Cal 2-1 on April 9-11. This is their third straight series win against Pac-12 teams, with the first two coming against Oregon and Arizona State. Right fielder Ryan Holgate hit .455 with one home run, three RBI’s, three doubles and one stolen base in the series against Cal. First baseman Brandon Boissiere hit .417 with one RBI in the series against Cal.
RELATED: Arizona baseball team takes two of three from California to secure third straight Pac-12 series win
Pitcher Chase Silseth had a great game in his outing against Cal on Friday, April 9. Silseth threw 6.1 innings, allowing five hits, zero runs and six strikeouts. This victory kept Silseth’s record at a perfect 5-0.
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