WOOSTER, Ohio – Led by a balanced performance in the field and distance events, The College of Wooster men's track & field team placed second while the women's team, highlighted by stellar field events and a collective relay effort, finished in third place at the six-team Fighting Scots Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
On the women's side, Wooster finished with 92 points. Wittenberg University won with 133, followed by Allegheny College with 110. For the Scots, senior Elizabeth Obi won the triple jump after besting the second-place opponent by nearly five inches with a winning leap of 34 feet, 6.25 inches. The veteran jumper also took home a top-three spot in the high jump (5 feet, 1 inch), just behind second-place teammate Carolyn Webster (5 feet, 2.25 inches).
|
| Juniors David Westcott (left) and Jackson Feinknopf (right) vie for first place during the men's 5,000 meters at the Fighting Scots Invitational on Saturday afternoon. |
Webster's second runner-up finish came in the long jump, as the junior leaped 15 feet, 10.25 inches on her sixth and final attempt.
Other top-two performances included first-year Georgia Hopps-Weber in the pole vault (10 feet, 6 inches), while the 4x400-meter relay team of first-year Zoe Covey, sophomore Regan Szalay, junior Emani Kelley, and junior Julia Higgins crossed the line in 4:24.73 for second place.
In the short sprints, sophomore Korri Palmer (8.53) and junior Erika Womack (8.60) placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 60-meter dash. Other top-five finishes included a fourth-place showing by junior Mallory Crane in the triple jump (31 feet, 2 inches) and a fifth-place run by senior Mackenzie Kellar in the 800 meters (2:34.15).
On the men's side, Wooster's 110.5 points were second only to Wittenberg's 145, while Allegheny claimed third place with 92 points. Junior Jack Petrecca won his second straight high jump event with a leap of 6 feet, 2.25 inches while junior David Westcott wrapped up Wooster's individual winners with a first-place time of 16:07.95 in the 5,000 meters, nearly two seconds ahead of classmate and runner-up Jackson Feinknopf (16:09.61).
Making top-five finishes in the 800 were junior Brian Lief, who finished second (2:03.62), and first-year Matt Klonowski (2:06.95), who crossed in fifth.
Senior Jacob Nowell also garnered runner-up honors with a clear of 10 feet, 11.75 inches in the pole vault, while sophomore Spencer Wilson wrapped up Wooster's top-four field event finishers with a try of 43 feet, 6.5 inches in the weight throw.
First-year Drake Pence came through in the 60-meter dash with a 7.39, good for fifth-place, while in the distance events, junior Hyuga Uchida finished the mile in fourth (4:50.32), as did sophomore Miki Rae in the 3,000 meters (9:32.65).
On Saturday, Feb. 3, Wooster competes at the Bob Shannon Invitational in Granville, Ohio.