Lauren Buyan

Keir Pace

The College of Wooster men's and women's track & field teams capped a week of southern training in Myrtle Beach, S.C., by participating in a large field of teams, including several NCAA Div. I schools, at the two-day Coastal Carolina Invitational. It was not a scored meet.

Among the Fighting Scots' individual highlights, Lauren Buyan finished runner-up out of 17 competitors in the 3000-meter steeplechase with an 11:49.24 time, just 12 seconds off of the winner's pace, while Hilary Coady crossed fourth-place in both the open 100 hurdles (16.06) and the seeded 400 hurdles (1:03.85).

Paris Nahas also competed in a seeded event, the 100 meters (13.18), and she took fifth in the open 200 (26.90). Fellow sprinter Kennedy Payne was 10th in the open 100 (13.48).

Rounding out Wooster's top-10 performances on the women's side were Tricia Hall, who turned in a ninth-place run in the 400 meters (1:03.66), and Kendra Shehy, who took 10th in the open 400 hurdles (1:11.54), and also of note, Danielle Besancon had a solid collegiate debut in the pole vault as the first-year who played basketball during the indoor track season cleared 9 feet, 6.25 inches for 12th-place.

On the men's side, Keir Pace and Jairaj Ranchod recorded the top finishes. Pace sprinted to a third-place showing in the open 100 meters (12.02) and Ranchod matched that placement among a field of 41 participants in the 800 meters (2:01.63).

Also of note, the Scots standout freshman high jumper, Mark Stair, was invited into the "A" flight of his specialty event. He tied for sixth (6 feet, 4.75 inches).

Wooster will get a bit more training in before heading home and starting the outdoor season in earnest with the annual Wooster Invitational on March 29.