Kasey Fiedler
Contributing Writer
The College of Wooster track and field team came up short with a combination of seven wins against Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, Jan. 25. Conference foes Allegheny College and Kenyon College were scheduled to attend the competition, but due to poor weather conditions, they were unable to travel to the Scot Center for the meet, leaving Wooster to fight it out in a dual against the Battling Bishops.
The women won four events in a competitive 97-58 setback against the defending North Coast Athletic Conference champions. The men fell by a similar score of 93-58 to the Battling Bishops, who are ranked No. 21 in all of NCAA Div. III.
The women dominated the jumping events, with Katie Cameron ’17 landing first in the long jump (15 feet, 1.5 inches) and Jocelyn Lion ’15 doing the same in the triple jump (31 feet, 6.75 inches). Kendra Shehy ’15, Amy French ’14 and Hilary Coady ’16 all cleared four feet, 10.25 inches in the high jump for a first-second-third Wooster finish. Shehy gained first-place honors with the least number of fouls.
On the track, Wooster clinched an impressive victory in the 4×400-meter relay, as Ashley Huddson ’15, Edith Anderson ’14, Hilary Coady ’16 and Lauren Buyan ’15 outraced Ohio Wesleyan 4:15.42 to 4:17.25. Individually, Anderson was runner-up in the 400 meters (1:02.03), Paris Nahas ’16 also placed second in the 60-meter sprint (8.44).
During the men’s competition, the Scots excelled in the distance events. Blake Pecoraro ’17, Gabriel Abud ’14 and Luke Hutchings-Goetz ’14 formed a top-three finish in the mile with respective times of 4:41.12, 4:42.47 and 4:46.35. David Brew ’14 coasted to the finish line for a win in the 800 meter race with a time of 2:00.50, which was four seconds ahead of the second-place runner.
Wooster’s other victor was Mark Stair ’17 in the high jump (six feet, five inches), while others of note included runner-up performances from Tarik Welch ’16 in the 400 meters (54.65), Morgan Clark ’14 in the 5000 meters (16:09.86) and Matt Margida ’16 in the shot put (44 feet, 1.5 inches).
Fighting Scots Anderson and Mamoudou N’Diaye ’14 expressed confidence in the team and optimism for the upcoming meets.
“We have talented upperclassmen, but this new class of first-years is really exciting to watch,” said N’Diaye. The Scots have proved their talent through their performance in the meets thus far, especially when Stair ’17 broke a 36-year-old high jump record last week with a height of six feet, 7.5 inches. “What’s even more amazing is they only can go up from here.”
In addition, when asked about the team’s strengths, Anderson added, “Our team is extremely supportive of one another, and we love to cheer each other on during events. We are also good at simply trying our best, even if another team may be stronger than we are in some areas.”
As the season is just beginning, the Scots will have many opportunities to improve on their efforts. Tomorrow Wooster will host The Fighting Scots Invitational Competition featuring field events at noon and track events at 2 p.m.
