2019 NCAC Championship Central | 2019 Kenyon Championship Central

This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster men's and women's track and field teams travel to Gambier, Ohio for the 2019 North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The two-day meet hosted by Kenyon College starts at noon on Friday with fielding events while running events start at 3 p.m. The event continues at 10 a.m. Saturday for fielding events and 2:15 p.m. for running events.

Media Coverage: Fans can follow the action at the NCAC Championships through the available live stream and live results webpages. All but throwing events will be streamed. Fans can also follow the track & field team's Twitter account @WoosterXCTF for updates throughout the championship.

Ticket Information: One-day admission for adults is $5 and $3 for children 18 and under. Two-day passes are also available for $10 and $6, respectively. Students of NCAC member institutions are admitted for free with a school ID. 

TRACK & FIELD NOTEBOOK 

Jack Petrecca

Emani Kelley

What Happened in 2018: The Scots will look to better their performances from 2018 after the women finished seventh of eight teams and the men finished ninth of nine. Oberlin won the women's title, and Ohio Wesleyan took the men's title. Carolyn Webster claimed three of Wooster's four All-NCAC performances (heptathlon, long jump, high jump). She also was right on the verge of claiming a few more with fourth place finishes in the 100 hurdles, javelin and 4x100 relay. For the men, Brian Lief was on the outside looking in with a fourth-place finish in the 800 as was Jack Petrecca with a fourth place finish in the high jump. David Westcott collected a fifth place in the steeplechase and a seventh in the 5,000. Spencer Wilson was fifth in the discus and eighth in the hammer throw.

Hoping Indoor Success Translates to Outdoors: The men and women both finished third in the NCAC Indoor Championships earlier this year. The two teams combined for four wins and 18 All-NCAC honors. The men's eight All-NCAC performances were the most they've had since 2001 (6), while the women's 10 were their most since 1994 (10). And while no outdoor record has been broken yet this year, eight indoor records were set.

Strong Underclass Depth: Wooster enters with a balanced roster which has helped them improve in the standings this year, and the freshmen class has been a big part of that. First years to watch include Kristian Coleman (jumps), William McMichael (sprints), Isabelle Hoover (distance), Claudia Partridge (jumps) and Maya Vasta (sprints). The sophomore class features the likes of Matt Klonowski (distance), Matt Olszewski (sprints), Drake Pence (jumps), Georgia Hopps-Weber (pole vault) and Jena Copley (sprints/jumps). McMichael enters with the third-best NCAC time in the 400 (49.36) and the fifth-best NCAC time in the 200 (22.44). Hoover has the second-best 10,000 time (38:51.65), and Klonowski has the second best 800 time (1:57.09) entering the meet. Coleman has a 13.41m triple jump that places him third-best among NCAC times.

Don't Forget the Upperclass: A number of juniors and seniors will be looking for their first All-NCAC outdoor certificate after missing out in 2018. The senior Lief missed out on All-NCAC honors in the 800 last year but has a chance to make up for that in the 1,500. His 3:57.61 time puts him in second among NCAC times. Westcott is the favorite to take the 3,000 steeplechase (9:10.04) and is second in the 5,000 (15:06.67) and third in the 10,000 (32:03.70).

Junior Akwia Tilton has been a point provider for the women but will need to shed some seconds to stand highest on the podium. She currently has the second best 200 meter (25.88), third-best 400 (1:00.19) and fourth-best 100 meter time (12.71). Tilton and senior Emani Kelley make up half the 4x400 relay that has a season best time of 4:05.18. Kelley also has the best team time in the 800 (2:20.53).

Seniors Justin Fox and Myles Parker will look to lead their relay groups to the podium. The 4x100 team has a best time this season of 43.44 seconds, 4x200 is at 1:34.34 and the 4x400 best time sits at 3:27.10. In field events, Petrecca will try to claim All-NCAC honors in the high jump where he is seeded third (1.94m). Wilson has the fourth-best discus throw on the year (41.27m). Webster is second among the best leaps this year in the high jump (1.61m), and Tilton will surely hope her top 5.33m mark in the long jump will carry over for a win. 

A Head Start in 2019: The senior Webster claimed the heptathlon victory this past weekend with a final tally of 4,263 points. She was the first student-athlete from Wooster to accomplish the feat. Webster had three first place finishes in the high jump (1.61m), long jump (5.25m) and javelin throw (31.01m). She also placed second in the 100 hurdles (16.23) and the 800 run (2:39.56). Webster has 18 all-conference certificates, for eighth best all-time in program history. Vasta finished fifth in the heptathlon, and the sophomore Copley finished seventh as the women will take the early point lead heading into this weekend's events. On the men's side, Jordan Dennis finished in seventh place. He had two second place finishes in the 100 dash (11.40) and the 400 meters (52.26). He gave the men two points, and the Scots will enter the weekend sitting in fourth.