Brian Lief

Carolyn Webster

First-year Carolyn Webster matched the indoor school record in the high jump, and The College of Wooster track & field teams turned in seven first-place finishes en route to a third-place team finish on both the men's and women's side at the Kenyon College Classic on Saturday afternoon at Gambier, Ohio.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University cruised to the team title on the men's side with 127 points, ahead of Ohio Wesleyan University's 93 points and Wooster's 79 points. On the women's side Ohio Wesleyan edged out host Kenyon 128-127 while Wooster's 104.50 points more than doubled Waynesburg University's fourth-place point haul of 57.

Webster cleared 5 feet, 6 inches on her final attempt at that height in the high jump to match Abena Boamah-Acheampong's indoor school record set at the 2013 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships. Additionally, the mark moved Webster into a tie for 10th in Div. III according to the latest national report on the Track & Field Results Reporting System. Webster, who recorded a 2.25-inch win in the high jump added runner-up honors in the long jump with a mark of 16 feet, 8.75 inches.

Paris Nahas was a quadruple-winner on the day. Individually, the senior doubled up in the 200 meters (26.33) and the 400 meters (59.04). Then, Nahas teamed up with Hilary Coady, Taryn Szalay, and Erika Womack to win the 4x200 relay at 1:47.88. Of note, the relay was just 0.35 seconds off of the school-record time. For the meet, Fighting Scots' finish was over 11 seconds better than the runner-up time turned in by Waynesburg.

To cap the meet, Nahas, Julia Higgins, Mackenzie Kellar, and Emani Kelley combined to turn in a winning time of 4:12.02 in the 4x400 relay.

Individually, Coady added first-place honors in the 60-meter hurdles (9.49) and a fifth-place leap of 15 feet, 11.50 inches in the long jump.

Overall, the Scots' jumpers had a big meet turning in five top-five marks. Elizabeth Obi played a big role in the jumpers' success with a third-place clearance of 4 feet, 7.75 inches in the high jump, and a fifth-place mark of 32 feet, 11.25 inches in the triple jump.

On the track, Wooster had a trio of scorers in the 400 and 800 meters. In addition to Nahas' first-place time in the 400, the Scots had scoring performances by Womack, who placed seventh at 1:08.19, and junior Dyese Osaze, who was eighth with a time of 1:08.67.

Kelley led Wooster in the 800 meters with a fourth-place time of 2:27.29, while Kellar (seventh) and Higgins (eighth) also contributed team points.

Wooster's mid-distance and distance groups led the way in the men's meet. First-year Brian Lief highlighted the two groups with a first-place time of 4:32.81 in the mile.

The Scots' biggest point haul came in the 3000 meters. Jacob Denbeaux turned in a second-place time of 8:59.68 that was backed up by Alex Chabraja's third-place time of 9:13.10, and David Westcott's fourth-place time of 9:19.36.

Albert Darling added a strong third-place showing in the 5000 meters crossing at 16:40.83.

Wooster's jumpers were equally as impressive logging two runner-up finishes and four top-five marks.

Zach Towner had a strong return to the jumping pits. Competing for the first time in over a year, the senior grabbed second-place honors in the triple jump with a mark of 39 feet, 3.25 inches. Christian Golden backed Towner's mark up with a third-place finish (38 feet, 9.75 inches).

John Petrecca cleared 6 feet, 4 inches on his second attempt in the high jump, and narrowly missed out on winning the event, with Mount Vernon Nazarene's Sam Nordquist winning the jump-off between the two.

Also of note, Jarrett Art claimed fifth-place honors in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet, 9.50 inches.

Other noteworthy performance were turned in by Cullen King, who was fifth in the 800 meters, and Kaylin Warner who ran a 9.63 in the prelims of the 60-meter hurdles and was within 0.1 seconds of the school-record clip.

Wooster will now turn its focus to the NCAC Indoor Championships. The multi-events portion of the championship meet takes place Feb. 27-28 at Ohio Wesleyan, with the rest of the meet to follow March 4-5 at Kenyon.