Joe David

Ellen Sandin

Student-athletes from The College of Wooster's men's and women's track and field teams combined for 15 top-three finishes during the Kenyon Spring Invitational, propelling the Fighting Scots to third- and fourth-place, respectively, during Saturday's nine-team meet held on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

Of the men's team's eight top-three placements, both of its first-place efforts came on the track. Senior Joe David outlasted 17 others in the grueling 5000 meter run to cross the finish line first in 15.49.24. Fellow classmate William Wojtkiewicz was right behind him, coming through third in 16:13.85.

The Scots other winning performance came from Alex Chabraja in the 3000 meter steeplechase, as the talented sophomore clocked in at 10:07.66 – more than 23 seconds in front of his nearest challenger. In that same event, newcomer Geoff Carney-Knisely took third in 10:46.76, and three other Scots scored as well.

Wooster had several standout performances in field events, too, with Matt Margida securing two of them. First in the shot put, Margida had a third-place toss of 44 feet, 6 inches, and later, he unleashed a second-place discus throw of 136 feet, 5 inches.

Another successful thrower was Tyler Catlin, who was third in the hammer with 149 feet, 7 inches.

Last but not least, Evan Pannell gave Wooster a boost by placing second of 11 in the long jump (22 feet, 2.5 inches). His jump was just behind the event record of 22 feet, 5 inches, which ironically was set by Julius Higginbotham – an assistant coach at Wooster – during his time as a student-athlete at Heidelberg University in 2009.

Hilary Coady sparked the women's side, with first-place in her signature 100 hurdles (15.03), which was comfortably ahead of the pack, as well as a second-place showing in the high jump at 5 feet, 1.25 inches.

Long jumpers Ellen Sandin (16 feet, 7 inches) and Katie Cameron (16 feet, 3.75 inches) finished second and third in that event, respectively.

Paris Nahas took yet another opportunity to showcase her speed with impressive efforts in both the 100 and 200 dashes. In the 100, she finished second of 17 in 12.77, and in the 200 she was second of 20 with a time of 25.67.

Finally, the team of Jocelyn Lion, Lauren Buyan, Lissette Torres, and Mackenzie Kellar brought home third-place points in the 4x400 relay by crossing the finish in 4:12.78.

Wooster will be involved in a similarly-structured event, the Denison Invitational, next Friday beginning at 3 p.m.