WASHINGTON - The year of 2023 is off to an amazing start for the track and field teams. Seniors Ayoade Adebiyi (Virginia Beach, VA), Nnamdi Olebara (Bowie, MD), and graduate student Mikyla Rodgers (South Huntington, NY), have set the tone for their performances throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons. The three motivated athletes have broken four Howard University Track & Field records within the first four meets of the year.

At the VCU Indoor Invitational, the first meet of 2023, Nnamdi Olebara broke a record of 16.52 meters in the weight throw. He says that, "It is exciting to break a record this early in the season and it gives me a lot of good feedback on my direction moving forward." Olebara plans to set the record mark as high as possible throughout the remainder of the indoor season, and during the outdoor season.

Mikyla Rodgers and Ayoade Adebiyi both broke records at the Rod McCravy Invitational. Rodgers set a record of 19.00 meters in the weight throw, which was one of her primary goals coming onto the team. She says, "It feels good to have a record to your name, especially as a graduate transfer student." Rodgers is working towards breaking the conference record, which is an important goal she has for herself.

Ayoade Adebiyi set a university record time of 8.48.23 in the 3000-meter race. He says that the record-breaking, "Was surprising because it felt so easy." It also made him feel very happy about how the season will progress moving forward. Additionally, at the Carolina Challenge Adebiyi set a school record of 15:10:43 in the 5000-meter race. Adebiyi says, "I am leaving it all on the line, it's my last year so there's no time to be complacent with anything."

As these seniors and graduate athletes set school records, they also hope to inspire upcoming track and field athletes to trust themselves and the process. They want them to understand that "a win is a win" and with perseverance they can set school records as well.