Seven First-Place Finishes, Dennis' School-Record Highlight Action at Fighting Scots Invite

WOOSTER, Ohio – Sophomore Jordan Dennis marked a new school-record in the men's 60 meter hurdles and The College of Wooster track and field programs claimed seven top times from around the table on Saturday afternoon at the Fighting Scots Invitational, with Wooster's men and women coming through strong in the sprinting events and jumps, while a trio of winners highlighted the men's outing in the distance events.

Wittenberg University won the men's meet with 186 points while Denison University finished as runner-up at 96. Seven points back of the Big Red was Wooster (89), followed by Oberlin College (70) and Kenyon College (19). On the women's side, Oberlin claimed first-place (147), followed by Denison (111), Wittenberg (90), Wooster (79) and Kenyon (56).

Sticking with the women, sophomore Carolyn Webster claimed top honors in the long jump (16 feet, 4.25 inches) and the 60-meter hurdles (10.06) in addition to a second-place leap in the high jump (5 feet, 3.25 inches). In the long jump, senior Katie Cameron trailed Webster by four inches to finish second (16 feet, .25 inches).

In the sprints, Regan Szalay finished as the top-Scot in the open 400, coming in fourth (1:02.98) as 1.18 seconds separated the top-four finishers. Meanwhile, sister Taryn Szalay led the Scots with a fifth-place time in the 200 (28.11). In the 60 meter dash, first-year Korri Palmer missed out on third-place honors by .004 seconds, finishing at 8.499.

In the 3,000, senior Emily Reid headlined the Scots with a fourth-place showing (11:46.01), followed by classmate Jackie White, who came in sixth (11:52.27). Meanwhile, first-year Summer Robinson finished fifth in the 60m hurdles (10.35) and sixth in the 200 (28.09) to round out the scoring for the Scots in individual events.

Wooster's women ended on a strong note with the quartet of Koral Kasnyik, Emani Kelley, Julia Higgins and Regan Szalay winning the 4x400 meter relay in 4:22.57.

On the men's side, Dennis posted a school-record 9.22 in the 60m hurdles, .32 seconds better than the previous record holder, Ryan Kish, who set the mark back in 2013.

Sophomore Jack Petrecca posted his second winning jump of the indoor season with a meet-best 6 feet, 5 inches in the high jump. Junior Tom Helsel followed up a third-place finish in the triple jump (37 feet, 10.5 inches) with a scoring try in the long jump, finishing sixth at 18 feet, 1 inch.

Sophomore Jackson Feinknopf jumpstarted the men's distance action with a first-place time in the 5,000 (15:56.60), followed by first-year Noah Winthrop, who finished in third at 16:37.19.

First-year Miki Rae paced the field in the 3,000, winning the event in 9:46.98 as teammate Herbert Sizek followed up to go one-two with a second-place time of 9:51.72. Junior Geoffrey Carney-Knisely (10:02.84) and sophomore Hyuga Uchida (10:24.72) scored, finishing in fifth- and sixth-place.

Continuing the Scots' distance success was sophomore Jacob Denbeaux, who won the men's mile in 4:28.11, just ahead of second-place finisher Niall Clancy of Denison (4:29.55). In the 800, sophomore Brian Lief nearly broke the 2-minute mark, clocking in at 2:00.69 for second place, 1.11 seconds behind Kenyon's Isak Davis.

The 4x400 team of Hamlett, Lief, Petrecca and Nick Lines finished with the fourth-best time (3:39.64).

Rounding out scoring times for the men were first-year Austin Hamlett in the 400 (53.08), sophomore Justin Fox in the 60m dash (7.52), first-year Spencer Wilson in the shot put (38 feet, 2.25 inches) and sophomore Simon Weyer in the 800 (2:07.24).

Wooster returns to action at the Bob Shannon Invitational next weekend in Granville, Ohio.