By Maddie Moran
Sports Editor
Last weekend, April 4 and 5, the Wooster track and field team hosted their season’s home meet on the Carl Munson Track. The Fighting Scots took on Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Lake Erie College, the University of Mount Union, Oberlin College, the University of Olivet, Otterbein University and Walsh University. The women’s team finished fourth in the field, only 2 points back from John Carroll with 83 total, while the men’s team took seventh.
“The Wooster Track and Field Invitational was a huge success,” said head coach Dennis Rice. “We had excellent team and individual results.”
In a field of 17 hurdlers, Daysia Hargrave ’25 was the only Wooster student athlete to compete in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She took control of the track, earning Wooster a first place finish, with a time of 14.69 seconds. Hargrave didn’t stop there, taking the top spot in the 400-meter hurdles as well, with a time of 1:07.43. She was followed by teammate Emily Munson ’25, who took sixth.
Wooster’s Izzy Cozzie ’26 found a spot in the top 10 in the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 13.21 seconds. Emeili Tarpy ’28 ran a time of 13.60, placing her 13 of 25. Cozzie, Tarpy and Hargrave also appeared in the Scots’ 4×100-meter relay alongside Claire Davis ’27 for a third place finish. Cozzie and Hargrave banded together on yet another relay with teammates Igna Mendez ’25 and Amelia Mitchell ’25 for the 4×400-meter race, this time earning first place.
Mitchell also took fifth in the women’s high jump in a field of 17 jumpers. Mount Union seemed to pull together a strong group of long jumpers, snatching 5 of the top 10 spots and pushing Wooster down to claim 16 and 21 out of 27. The Scots fired back with a top 3 finish from Davis. Evie Sanford ’26 grabbed Wooster a sixth place finish in the women’s shot put and twelfth in discus followed by teammates Leanna Plank ’27 and Kylie Parsons ’27. The Scots also scored some points from Elizabeth Theobald ’28 in javelin.
While John Carroll and Mount Union dominated the 1500-meter race, Wooster showed their endurance and strong pace in the 5000-meter run. The Scots took another first place finish thanks to a career best from Elise Greenwald ’25, running a time of 18:44.30, 26 seconds ahead of the next runner. Savannah Cox ’28 rounded out the top 5 with a time of 20:29.95, followed by Isabelle Dwyer ’25, Jessie Breth ’25 and Colette Christopher ’27.
In a field of 32 runners, Wooster’s Khaleel Manderson ’26 cracked the top 10 in both the men’s 100-meter and 200-meter dash, with times of 11.35 and 22.93, respectively. Will Harris ’27 followed in the 100-meter, taking fourteenth with a time of 11.53 and Liam Regan ’25 followed in eleventh in the 200-meter with a time of 23.13. Nate Chartrand ’27 and Cameron Ray ’25 took fifth and seventh, respectively, in the men’s 400-meter dash after John Carroll and Mount Union runners.
While the 1500-meter and 5000-meter posed a runaway for the Scots’ opposition, they conserved their runners for domination in the 3000-meter steeple, claiming 3 top 5 finishes. Drew Robertson ’25 took second at 9:24.57 followed by Will Callender ’25 in third with a time of 9:36.03. Eric Johnson ’25 rounded out the top 5 with a time of 10:05.24.
The men’s 400-hurdles found Wooster a top 5 finish from Jacob George ’26, with a time of 58.40. Wooster followed up their individual efforts with a second-place finish in the 4×100-meter relay. In the relay, Manderson, Harris, Regan and Cooper Norwell ’27 came in at 42.88, just one second behind John Carroll. Aaron Denis ’27 claimed a ninth place finish in the men’s pole vault, reaching 3.69 meters, followed by teammates Hayden Jacoby ’26 and Avidor Wolkenberg ’27.
Robert Mays ’26 pulled through for third in the men’s hammer throw, with a distance of 43.27 meters. Mays also earned the Scots 2 top 5 throws in the shot put and discus events, throwing 13.45 meters in shot put and 40.04 meters in discus. These efforts were followed by Elijah Stewart ’27 with a throw of 12.15 meters and DT Franklin ’27 for a personal best of 10.65 meters.
“This weekend’s competition was very special for me,” said Franklin. “I had the most consistent shot put series of my career, with a personal best of 10.65 meters (34.95 ft.) along with two other solid throws over 10 meters. I’ve been working hard to achieve that rhythm and seeing it all come together like that was quite fulfilling. What made it even more meaningful was having my football teammates and coaches there to cheer me on — it reminded me how powerful support and community can be in pushing you to your full potential.”
The Fighting Scots will compete in the All-Ohio Championships on April 11 and 12 at Ohio Wesleyan University.