NCAC Championship Central | Championship Host Site
This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster men's and women's outdoor track and field teams travel to Denison University for the 2024 North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday. Field events start at Noon and track events start at 3 p.m. Friday with the women's 3000 steeplechase leading off. Saturday's action starts at 10 a.m. for field events and 2:15 p.m. for track events.
Spectator Information: Tickets are $5 per day for adults and $3 for children 18 and under. An All-session pass for adults can be purchased for $10. NCAC students with their NCAC Institution ID will get in free. All sales are cash only.
Media Coverage: Live results will be available from the host school Denison. Fans can also follow the track and field team's X account @woosterxctf for updates. Check woosterathletics.com for end-of-day recaps. Additional information can be found on the championship sites at the top of this notebook.
Pre-Championship Polls: Taking a quick glance at the NCAC Pre-Championship Coaches Polls, Wooster is tied for fifth out of nine teams on the men's side and is fifth of eight teams on the women's poll. The Wittenberg men received eight first place votes to atop the standings, while the Tigers and DePauw University tied for first on the women's poll.
Heptathlon/Decathlon Recap: Junior Daysia Hargrave competed in the heptathlon for the second time and finished third for the second time to earn All-NCAC honors. Hargrave finished with 4,133 points behind the winner from DePauw, Katie Moore, who tallied 4,437 points. Hargrave won in the 100 meters with a time of 14.64 seconds, breaking her own NCAC record from 2022. She placed second in the 200 meters and fourth in four events. She earned six points for the women's team. Wooster did not fill a spot in the decathlon.
Looking Back at Last Year's Meet: The Scots tallied 14 All-NCAC accolades with the women placing fifth and the men sixth. Wittenberg won the women's meet, and Denison won on the men's side. Will McMichael '23 was named the Men's Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Year, repeating as the 400 champion. He also teamed with Joe Shilts, Cam Ray and Nick Scherson '23 to claim the 4x400 title. Dylan Garretson won the pole vault, and on the women's side, Hargrave won the title in the 100 hurdles.
From Indoors to Outdoors: Garretson, King Jeju and Ainsley Wiesner are each looking to repeat with a trip to the outdoor national championships after doing so this indoor season. Wiesner became the first women's thrower to earn All-America honors with a fifth place finish. Garretson and Jeju had second team All-America performances in the pole vault and long jump, respectively. Currently, Wiesner ranks tenth in the hammer throw, Garretson ranks seventh in long jump and Jeju ranks 14th in the long jump.
Others In the Top 100: The men have plenty more looking to rise up in regard to their national times. In addition to the long jump, Jeju is 61st in the 200, 87th in the 100 meters and the triple jump. Luke Henke is 82nd in the high jump as is Drew Robertson in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Shilts is 84th in the 400 hurdles and Lorenzo Freeman is 88th in the 110 hurdles. For the women, Athena Tharenos is currently 38th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
All-Ohio Recap: Wooster had six earn All-Ohio honors earlier this year as the women placed fifth and the men placed ninth. Garretson became a five-time All-Ohio champion in the pole vault, while Robertson added two to his mantle in the steeplechase and 1,500. Wiesner won the hammer throw and upped her own school record in the process, while also earned All-Ohio in the shot put. Hargrave won the 100 hurdles, Dylan Kretchmar won the 10,000 and Drew Patterson earned All-Ohio honors in the high jump.