A balanced effort from both The College of Wooster's men's and
women's track & field teams resulted in solid third- and
fourth-place showings, respectively, at the nine-team Wooster
Invitational Saturday at a cool, but sunny John P. Papp
Stadium.
The Fighting Scots' men's team did not win any events, but a combined 13 top-five performances helped build a final total of 100 points. Only NCAA Div. II neighbor Ashland University (126) and Walsh University (121) outscored the hosts, while Wooster topped four of its fellow North Coast Athletic Conference schools –Oberlin College (88), Denison University (74), Kenyon College (29), and Hiram College (11).
Bryan Albani was one of the Scots' leaders, placing runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles (59.08) and third in the 110-meter hurdles while running against a breeze (15.56).
A couple of the top events for Wooster were the 5000 meters and the triple jump. In the 5000, twins Terry Workman and Rik Workman ran second (15:44.77) and fifth (16:07.71), respectively, while in the triple, Eric Dyer was runner-up (40 feet, 11.75 inches) and Ramses Clements third (38 feet, 8.75 inches).
Two additional second-place efforts came courtesy of Julian Mangano in the 800 meters (1:58.61) and Sean Twining in the javelin (151 feet, 8 inches), and Robert McConnell placed third overall in the pole vault (12 feet, 5.5 inches).
Other top-five showings included Jon Mathis notching fourth in the high jump (5 feet, 8.75 inches), Dyer hitting fifth in the long jump (19 feet, 6.25 inches), and Kevin Orris throwing fifth in the shot put (38 feet, 0.25 inches).
The women's meet saw the Scots tally up 80.5 points, with Div. II Ashland sweeping the team title with 172.5 points, followed by Walsh (142.5) and Oberlin (89).
Highlighting Wooster's results, Abena Boamah-Acheampong and Miriam Wise both earned individual victories. Boamah-Acheampong, in her first outdoor collegiate meet, cleared 5 feet, 3.75 inches in the high jump to take honors, while Wise paced all competitors in the triple jump at 31 feet, 2.5 inches. Elizabeth Wardrop complemented Wise, recording fifth-place in the triple (29 feet, 4 inches).
Sarah Appleton was the Scots' next highest scorer as she finished runner-up in the 3000-meter steeplechase (12:22.28), while Kate Hunt and Wise were third in the pole vault (9 feet, 5.75 inches) and long jump (14 feet, 11.25 inches), respectively.
Also third was Somadina Iworisha, who led a 3-4-5 for Wooster in the javelin with a throw of 95 feet, 11 inches, followed by Melanie Sidman (94 feet, 1 inch) and KateLynn Riley (88 feet, 8 inches), and rounding out the top-fives were Whitney Rappole's fifth-place effort in the 400 hurdles (1:10.14) and Meredith Shaul's fifth-place run in the 5000 meters (19:23.95).
Next weekend, the Scots will participate in the Jack Hazen Invitational at Malone University.