Kasey Fiedler
Senior Sports Writer
The College of Wooster track and field team competed at the All-Ohio Division III championships, hosted by Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 15. The women’s team placed 15th in the competition with strong performances by its relays, including the 4×400-meter team re-setting its school record set earlier this season, Just a few from the men’s team represented the Fighting Scots, finishing in 18th place.
Wooster had an impressive three scoring relays on the day, consisting of the distance medley team of Ann Berkow ’14, Ashley Huddson ’15, Hilary Coady ’16 and Lauren Buyan ’15. They finished with a fifth place time of 12:49:18 among a competitive field. Huddson, Buyan, and Coady were part of the 4×400 meter relay team as well as Edith Anderson ’14.
Together, the ladies quickly covered 1,600 meters in 4:09.65 which is almost a second-and-a-half faster than their previous best (4:11.13). This time allowed them to cross the finish line in sixth place out of the best in Ohio. Anderson was joined by Paris Nahas ’16, Tricia Hall ’14, and Kara Johnson ’14 in the 4×200 meter relay where they earned seventh place with a time of 1:49.64.
The Fighting Scots also excelled in individual competitions. Anderson took fifth-place in the 400 meter race (1:00.22), Amy French ’14 soared into eighth place in the triple jump (32 feet, 11.75 inches) and Nahas trimmed her recently set school record in the 60 meter dash by a hundredth of a second, lowering it to 8.29 seconds during the prelims.
In the men’s competition, Wooster’s scorers were Mark Stair ’17 and Matt Margida ’16. Margida was coming off of a stellar performance at the Bob Shannon Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 8 where he placed fourth in a field of 26 in the shot put (48 feet, 2.75 inches) and 11th in the weight throw among a strong field of 21 with a throw of 42 feet, 6.75 inches, just three inches shy of his own school record of 42 feet, 9.75 inches. The sophomore has been performing at a high level for the College of Wooster men’s track and field team, having already broken a school record this season. He proved his talent yet again at the invitational by earning his first ever North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete-of-the-Week honor. Margida also performed well at the All-Ohio Championships placing sixth in the shot put (48 feet). He was accompanied by fellow first-year teammate, Stair, who tied for second place in the high jump (6 feet, 4.25 inches).
The Scots will send a full complement of athletes to the Kenyon Classic next Saturday in their final preparation for the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships.