|
| Julia Higgins |
|
| Brian Lief |
Julia Higgins and Carolyn Webster were the top performers for The College of Wooster track and field teams on Saturday, as the junior duo earned All-North Coast Athletic Conference certificates in the 400-meter hurdles and high jump respectively on the final day of the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships contested at Allegheny College's Frank B. Fuhrer Field in Meadville, Pa. Wooster finished in seventh-place in the women's standings, while the men placed ninth.
Webster, who is now 11th all-time in program history with 14 All-NCAC honors (includes cross country where applicable, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field), cleared 5 feet, 3.75 inches on her second attempt. The junior added a trio of fourth-place finishes on the day, starting with a javelin toss of 108 feet, 9 inches. In running events, Webster clocked in at 16.08 in the 100-meter hurdles, and was part of the Scots' fourth-place 4x100 relay that clocked in at 49.51. Junior Erika Womack, sophomore Korri Palmer, and sophomore Akwia Tilton comprised the other three legs of the relay.
Higgins, who earned all-conference honors for the fifth time, did so for the first time in an individual event with a third-place showing in the 400-meter hurdles. Higgins' 1:06.31 marked a new career-best by 1.4 seconds.
Wooster's strong contributions from the junior class carried over to the men's meet, where Brian Lief and Jack Petrecca just missed on all-conference honors in the 800 meters and high jump respectively. Lief, who won the 800 meters at the 2017 NCAC Championships, settled for fourth-place at 1:58.06, while Petrecca cleared 6 feet, 2.75 inches on his final try at that height.
Sticking with the jumps, senior Elizabeth Obi extended to 35 feet, 5 inches in the triple jump, a mark good forth fifth-place, while her clearance over the bar at 4 feet, 11.75 inches in the high jump went for seventh-place.
The high jump marked one of three events on the day the Scots had multiple scorers in. Senior Mackenzie Kellar turned in a strong finale at the conference level with the fifth-place time of 2:24.23 in the 800 meters, a clip that was quickly backed up by junior Emani Kelley's sixth-place time of 2:24.34.
First-year Jena Copley scored in her second event at the championships with an eighth-place mark of 97 feet, 11 inches in the javelin.
On the men's side, sophomore Spencer Wilson's toss of 144 feet was good for fifth-place in the discus, while junior David Westcott snuck into a scoring spot in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:38.65.
In relay action, first-year Drake Pence and juniors Justin Fox, Myles Parker, and Petrecca teamed up for a 44.33 in the 4x100, a clip good for fifth-place. In the 4x400, first-year Matt Olszewski, Parker, sophomore Aedan Pettit, and Petrecca capped the meet with a seventh-place time of 3:27.85.
Prior to the men's 4x400, Higgins, Kellar, Kelley, and first-year Zoe Covey crossed sixth in women's race with a time of 4:13.12.
Ohio Wesleyan University's 180 points led the way among the nine men's teams, while Oberlin College captured the women's team title with 228 points.