Adeniji Promoted to Assistant Coach
09/07/23 | Track and Field
Dr. Ola Adeniji has coached 17 individual Pac-12 champions and been part of six Pac-12 team titles.
EUGENE, Ore. – Dr. Ola Adeniji, who previously served as a volunteer assistant for Oregon track and field with the sprints/hurdles group, has been promoted to assistant coach ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Adeniji first came to Oregon in 2018 and, working alongside associate head coach Curtis Taylor, has helped coach the Ducks' sprinters and hurdlers to seven still-standing school records. Among those marks was a then-collegiate record of 7.05 by Kemba Nelson in the women's 60 meters.
Nelson and Micah Williams swept the 2021 NCAA titles in the 60 meters. Oregon became the second team to ever sweep the NCAA titles in the event, and the first since LSU in 2018. Nelson also added a national runner-up finish in the 100 meters and bronze finish with the 4x100-meter relay in 2022.
At the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, Jadyn Mays moved into a tie for the fourth-fastest performer in collegiate history in the 60 meters with her time of 7.07 in the semifinals. She was fifth in both the 60 and 200 at the indoor national meet. Mays ran to a third-place national finish 60 meters in 2022, posting a time of 7.09 to qualify for the final.
In 2019, Adeniji's second year in Eugene, Cravon Gillespie was the NCAA runner-up in the 100 and 200 meters. He set the school record of 19.93 in the final of the 200. Gillespie's time of 9.93 in the 100 was the Oregon record until Williams ran 9.86 at the 2022 NCAA West Preliminary. Earlier in the year, he posted a wind-aided 9.83 at the Mt. SAC Relays.
Adeniji has coached 17 individual Pac-12 champions in the sprints and hurdles, and been part of six Pac-12 team titles. In 2023, Williams won a second-consecutive league title at 100 meters while the Women of Oregon won the 4x100-meter relay for a third-consecutive season to go along with individual titles from Mays in the 100 and Shana Grebo in the 400-meter hurdles.
As the high-point scorer on the women's side, Mays earned Athlete of the Meet honors at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships. Along with her efforts in the 100 and with the 4x100 relay, Mays was the runner-up (22.42 PB) in the 200 meters.
At the national level, the Men of Oregon won the 2021 NCAA Indoor title and were runners-up at that year's outdoor meet. This past season, the UO women had a podium finish and brought home a fourth-place trophy at the NCAA Championships in Austin.
Freshman Aaliyah McCormick was the 2023 USATF U20 champion in the 100-meter hurdles and went on to represent Team USA at the Pan American U20 Championships in Puerto Rico. McCormick established a lifetime best of 12.85 in the event during the year and was the runner-up at the Pac-12 meet.
In June 2023, Dr. O completed her doctoral program at Oregon in the Department of Human Physiology and earned a PhD in Sports Biomechanics with a focus on sprint and jump disciplines in track and field. She had previously earned a Master's degree in Sports Medicine/Injury Studies.
The track and field staff has also added Anderson Bobo as the team's new creative director. He comes to Eugene from Florida where he was a full-time intern and content producer for the Gators' track and field and women's lacrosse teams. Bobo has also worked as a media intern for the Bowerman Track Club and University of North Florida Athletics.
Bobo graduated from North Florida with a degree in communications—multimedia journalism and went on to earn a master's degree in mass communication at Florida. The Orlando, Fla., native was a student-athlete (2016-19) on the UNF cross country and track and field team.
For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Adeniji first came to Oregon in 2018 and, working alongside associate head coach Curtis Taylor, has helped coach the Ducks' sprinters and hurdlers to seven still-standing school records. Among those marks was a then-collegiate record of 7.05 by Kemba Nelson in the women's 60 meters.
Nelson and Micah Williams swept the 2021 NCAA titles in the 60 meters. Oregon became the second team to ever sweep the NCAA titles in the event, and the first since LSU in 2018. Nelson also added a national runner-up finish in the 100 meters and bronze finish with the 4x100-meter relay in 2022.
At the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, Jadyn Mays moved into a tie for the fourth-fastest performer in collegiate history in the 60 meters with her time of 7.07 in the semifinals. She was fifth in both the 60 and 200 at the indoor national meet. Mays ran to a third-place national finish 60 meters in 2022, posting a time of 7.09 to qualify for the final.
In 2019, Adeniji's second year in Eugene, Cravon Gillespie was the NCAA runner-up in the 100 and 200 meters. He set the school record of 19.93 in the final of the 200. Gillespie's time of 9.93 in the 100 was the Oregon record until Williams ran 9.86 at the 2022 NCAA West Preliminary. Earlier in the year, he posted a wind-aided 9.83 at the Mt. SAC Relays.
Adeniji has coached 17 individual Pac-12 champions in the sprints and hurdles, and been part of six Pac-12 team titles. In 2023, Williams won a second-consecutive league title at 100 meters while the Women of Oregon won the 4x100-meter relay for a third-consecutive season to go along with individual titles from Mays in the 100 and Shana Grebo in the 400-meter hurdles.
As the high-point scorer on the women's side, Mays earned Athlete of the Meet honors at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships. Along with her efforts in the 100 and with the 4x100 relay, Mays was the runner-up (22.42 PB) in the 200 meters.
At the national level, the Men of Oregon won the 2021 NCAA Indoor title and were runners-up at that year's outdoor meet. This past season, the UO women had a podium finish and brought home a fourth-place trophy at the NCAA Championships in Austin.
Freshman Aaliyah McCormick was the 2023 USATF U20 champion in the 100-meter hurdles and went on to represent Team USA at the Pan American U20 Championships in Puerto Rico. McCormick established a lifetime best of 12.85 in the event during the year and was the runner-up at the Pac-12 meet.
In June 2023, Dr. O completed her doctoral program at Oregon in the Department of Human Physiology and earned a PhD in Sports Biomechanics with a focus on sprint and jump disciplines in track and field. She had previously earned a Master's degree in Sports Medicine/Injury Studies.
The track and field staff has also added Anderson Bobo as the team's new creative director. He comes to Eugene from Florida where he was a full-time intern and content producer for the Gators' track and field and women's lacrosse teams. Bobo has also worked as a media intern for the Bowerman Track Club and University of North Florida Athletics.
Bobo graduated from North Florida with a degree in communications—multimedia journalism and went on to earn a master's degree in mass communication at Florida. The Orlando, Fla., native was a student-athlete (2016-19) on the UNF cross country and track and field team.
For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Players Mentioned
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
Aaliyah McCormick | NCAA 100M Hurdles National Champion
Thursday, June 19
Matti Erickson | NCAA 800M Runner Up
Saturday, June 14
Hayward Field History
Thursday, June 12
2024-25 Oregon Track & Field Intro Video
Thursday, June 12
