Track and Field
Adeniji, Dr. Ola
Dr. Ola Adeniji
- Title:
- Assistant Coach (Sprints/Hurdles)
- Email:
- oadeniji@uoregon.edu
Dr. Ola Adeniji was promoted to an assistant coach for the Oregon track and field program ahead of the 2023-24 season. Now in her seventh season with the Ducks where she began as a volunteer assistant, Adeniji brings more than 18 years of coaching experience to the Oregon sprints and hurdles group.
Adeniji first came to Oregon ahead of the 2017-18 season 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.
Prior to her time in Eugene, Adeniji spent three seasons at Cal Poly Pomona as an assistant coach. She led the Broncos' sprints and hurdles group, in addition to coaching the team's sprint-jump combo student-athletes. In 2017, Adeniji coached freshman Xjaedah Williams to the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title in the 100-meter hurdles. She also led a trio of sprinters--Tyla Graves, Louis Martin III, James Weiner--to top-10 program times including Martin in both the 100 and 200 meters.
Adeniji carries eight years of coaching experience at the prep level in the Los Angeles area where, in addition to track and field, she also coached basketball and cross country. In total, she coached her teams to two Division IV CIF state titles, six CIF-SS titles and 13 league titles. Individually, Adeniji coached two CIF-SS Masters champions, four CIF-SS Division IV champion and two girl's basketball McDonald's All Americans (Nikki Speed, Abi Olajuwon).
In June 2023, Dr. O completed her doctoral program at the University of 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. Adeniji was a double major during her collegiate career at UCLA.
In a show of her passion for the combination of sport and science, Adeniji continues her research with PhD advisor and world-renowned biomechanist Dr. Athanassios Bissas who led World Athletics biomechanical analysis of the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London and 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
Adeniji has been published three times, most recently in 2019 with Biomechanical Performance Analysis in Athletes at the Collegiate Level. During her time as a doctoral student at Oregon, she has been the recipient of seven graduate awards, honors and grants all while coaching the Ducks.
Adeniji first came to Oregon ahead of the 2017-18 season 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.
Prior to her time in Eugene, Adeniji spent three seasons at Cal Poly Pomona as an assistant coach. She led the Broncos' sprints and hurdles group, in addition to coaching the team's sprint-jump combo student-athletes. In 2017, Adeniji coached freshman Xjaedah Williams to the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title in the 100-meter hurdles. She also led a trio of sprinters--Tyla Graves, Louis Martin III, James Weiner--to top-10 program times including Martin in both the 100 and 200 meters.
Adeniji carries eight years of coaching experience at the prep level in the Los Angeles area where, in addition to track and field, she also coached basketball and cross country. In total, she coached her teams to two Division IV CIF state titles, six CIF-SS titles and 13 league titles. Individually, Adeniji coached two CIF-SS Masters champions, four CIF-SS Division IV champion and two girl's basketball McDonald's All Americans (Nikki Speed, Abi Olajuwon).
In June 2023, Dr. O completed her doctoral program at the University of 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. Adeniji was a double major during her collegiate career at UCLA.
In a show of her passion for the combination of sport and science, Adeniji continues her research with PhD advisor and world-renowned biomechanist Dr. Athanassios Bissas who led World Athletics biomechanical analysis of the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London and 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham.
Adeniji has been published three times, most recently in 2019 with Biomechanical Performance Analysis in Athletes at the Collegiate Level. During her time as a doctoral student at Oregon, she has been the recipient of seven graduate awards, honors and grants all while coaching the Ducks.
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