Anna Hartig
Staff Writer
The College of Wooster men’s and women’s track and field team traveled to Gambier, Ohio last weekend for the Kenyon College Classic. The women’s team won three events in jumps and relays in order to earn fifth place with 70 points. On the men’s side, the team placed in seventh while missing a large portion of their team as Wooster’s throwers traveled to Findlay University in Findlay, Ohio.
Carolyn Webster ’19 earned first place in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet and 8.75 inches, as well as finishing second in the high jump with a height of five feet, three inches. Teammate Elizabeth Obi ’18 continued her successful season by taking first place in the triple jump. In the 4×200-meter relay, Erika Womack ’19, Julia Higgins ’19, Emma Sullivan ’20 and Korri Palmer ’20 worked together in order to win first place with a time of 1:54.21.
“This meet could potentially be a deciding factor in who gets to participate on the team that attends conference in two weeks,” said Sullivan.
With the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championships coming in just two weeks, the team is competing its hardest to continue the indoor season.
Wooster’s throwers traveled to Findlay in order to see some tougher competition before conference. The meet featured many DII schools. Against steep opponents, Spencer Wilson ’20 and Kassady Murphy ’19 logged personal records in weight throw and shotput.
“I believe the biggest support I have is from the other throwers on the team. They continually push me to succeed and offer plenty of support,” said Murphy.
On the men’s team, the 4×400-meter relay earned second place with a time of 3:35.87. The team consisted of Brian Lief ’19, Jack Petrecca ’19, Myles Parker ’19 and Aedan Pettit ’20. This time surpasses the season record for the 4×400 relay at Wooster. “The team and coaches helped me by making workouts more event-oriented, which I feel has been great for my overall fitness, keeping healthy and avoiding injuries so far this season,” said Parker.
Another highlight of the meet was Jackson Feinknopf ’19 finishing in third place with a time of 9:10.47 in the 3,000-meter race. In the 5,000-meter relay, William Koenig ’18 finished eighth with a time of 16:50.74. Overall, both the men’s and women’s teams are looking to continue the hard work into the rest of the season and finish conference off strong.
“Wooster track and field has given me an environment to build upon myself,” said Murphy. “On top of that, it’s given me some friendships to last a lifetime and a positive experience at Wooster. I couldn’t imagine not going to practice every day and having some of the funniest conversations of my life with my teammates.”
Make sure to cheer on Wooster’s track and field team as they travel to Denison University for the Denison Last Chance meet this Friday, Feb. 23. The athletes will be hoping to qualify for conference as this is their last chance to give it their all.