Zach Towner

Kennedy Payne

The College of Wooster women's track & field team won the Kenyon Classic, easily outscoring five other schools on Saturday, while its male counterparts were almost as impressive with a second-place effort in Gambier, Ohio.

With 145 points, the Wooster women finished well ahead of their closest competition, fellow North Coast Athletic Conference institution Ohio Wesleyan University (101). There were two other NCAC schools in the field in Kenyon College (55) and Denison University (17).

Among the keys to the Fighting Scots' success were two winning relays, including the 4x400 of Ashley Huddson, Lauren Buyan, Hilary Coady, and Edith Anderson as they trimmed their school record set last weekend by another two-plus seconds to 4:07.38.

Paris Nahas, Anderson, Tricia Hall, and Kara Johnson each sprinted once around the track, culminating in 1:49.38, good for a decisive four-second victory in the 4x200.

Several of them excelled individually as well. Huddson was runner-up in the 800 meters (2:26.55), Buyan took second in the mile (5:21.68), Anderson notched fourth-place in the 200 meters (27.11), and Coady led a three-member Wooster contingent in the 60-meter hurdles while setting a school record in the event. Coady's runner-up time of 9.52 seconds was enough to overtake the record from current teammate Amy French, who finished right behind her in third-place (9.64), and Taryn Szalay also crossed in under 10 seconds (9.78) for fourth-place.

In the high jump, it was French edging Coady for top honors. They both cleared 4 feet, 11.75 inches, while Kendra Shehy chipped in third-place points in the event (4 feet, 9.75 inches) for the Scots.

Also in the field, Katie Cameron and Jocelyn Lion each reached second-place in the long jump (15 feet, 8.75 inches) and triple jump (32 feet, 1 inch), respectively, with Lion picking up a third in the former (15 feet, 2 inches). Kennedy Payne backed up Lion in the triple with a third-place jump (31 feet, 10.75 inches) and she also was third in the 60-meter dash (8.32), while another notable result on the track was Emily Reid and Erin Andrews-Sharer running second and third in the 3000 meters exactly one second apart with respective times of 11:29.88 and 11:30.88.

The 3000 meters helped key the men's team's strong showing, as Wooster took the top-four places out of 25 competitors, with Blake Pecoraro crossing first in 9:05.97. Close behind were teammates Morgan Clark (9:08.07), Derrick Marshall (9:08.52), and Luke Hutchings-Goetz (9:13.54).

Two other top efforts on the track came from John Lanz and Roy Hadfield, who earned second in the 400 (53.09) and 800 meters (2:00.46), respectively.

Mark Stair and Matt Margida headlined the field events. Stair equaled his school record while winning the high jump in 6 feet, 7.5 inches, and Margida upped his own Scot record in the weight throw to 45 feet, 5.25 inches while placing second. That was more than two feet better than his previous best.

Another event winner was Zach Towner, who bested eight others in the triple jump (40 feet, 5.5 inches).

Overall, the Wooster men scored 88 points, and just like the women's team, were ahead of all three other NCAC schools – Ohio Wesleyan (86.5), Kenyon (75), and Denison (29). Penn State Behrend emerged as the men's winner (159).