Ben Blotner
Contributing Writer
Wooster’s track and field teams competed in the North Coast Athletic Conference Multi-Event Championships over the weekend. Conor Maley ’17 set a new school record in the men’s heptathlon, while Carolyn Webster ’19 and Taryn Szalay ’17 earned All-NCAC honors for their performances in the women’s pentathlon.
The men’s heptathlon saw Maley and Jordan Dennis ’19 eclipse the previous Wooster record for the event with their overall scores. Maley earned third place in the 1000-meter run, with a time of 2:55, and in the shotput with an 11.56-meter throw. Dennis also finished third in two different events, the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. In the sprint, he was just a tenth of a second off the winning pace set by Nate Newman ’18 of Ohio Wesleyan. Dennis recorded a time of 8.87 seconds on the hurdles.
Maley’s score of 3,844 is the highest in school history for the men’s heptathlon, earning him a spot in the record books. Dennis earned 3,822 points as he also surpassed the previous mark of 3,769, set in 2014 by David Brew. Despite these impressive accomplishments, Newman was the winner of the event with a whopping 4,899 points. Connor Stumm ’17 and Cole Seward ’17 of Wabash took the next two spots, and Jayson Blankenship ’20 of Ohio Wesleyan finished fourth. Maley earned fifth place and Dennis sixth.
Newman was victorious in three different events while coming in second in two others. His triumphs included the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles and the high jump. Seward came out on top in the 1000-meter run, while Blankenship won the pole vault and Stumm the long jump. Wesleyan’s Michael Heeschen ‘20 won the shotput by more than a full meter, although he did not compete in the 1000-meter run or pole vault.
Webster took first place in the pentathlon, finishing at least second in four of the five events. She won the high jump with a mark of 1.62 meters and the long jump with 5.07 meters. In the 60-meter hurdles, Webster was edged out by teammate Szalay, who won the event with a time of 9.66 seconds. Summer Robinson ’20 tied for second on the high jump with a 1.47-meter leap. Overall, Webster was the winner with a score of 3,098, while Szalay finished third with a score of 2,603. Webster is the first women’s pentathlon winner in school history.
“I was really excited about my accomplishments, as I set new personal records in three out of five events, and I can’t wait to get back out there for the NCAC conference championships this upcoming weekend,” said Webster.
Wooster’s track and field team will try to break more records at the NCAC Championships held on March 3 and 4 in Oberlin, Oh.