Junior KateLynn Riley represented the College of Wooster in fine fashion during the 2009 North Coast Athletic Conference heptathlon competition held Saturday and Sunday at Oberlin College. Riley concluded the weekend with 3,892 points, bettering last year’s finish by four spots and giving the Fighting Scots their highest individual finish in the heptathlon. 

Starting the two-day event off in a strong way, Riley finished first in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.11, good for 827 points. In the next event, she leapt to sixth-place in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4 feet, 5.5 inches for 470 points. In her final two events of the opening day, she posted back-to-back third-place finishes in the shot put with a toss of 29 feet for 454 points and in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.85 for 643 points. 

Headed into Sunday’s action, she was positioned in third place with 2,394 points, just 19 behind Ohio Wesleyan University’s Jessica Merrill.  Riley erased the difference and vaulted into the second spot in the first event Sunday with a fourth-place leap in the long jump (16 feet, 0.5 inches), followed by a runner-up effort in the javelin (91 feet, 3 inches). She ended the two-day meet with a fifth-place in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:43.31 for 533 points.

Madeline Schultz of Oberlin College won the event with 4,386 points, a provisional-qualifying mark for the NCAA Div. III Championships, followed by Riley in second. The third-year Scot edged out Lainey Kekic of Ohio Wesleyan, who finished third with 3,858 points, and Merrill’s 3,814-point effort in fourth.

As a team, the Scots will be in action on Friday and Saturday this week, where they will take part in the 2009 NCAC Championships in Delaware, Ohio.