Wooster's women beat Denison by 20 points on Thursday evening. Photo by Abbi Tarburton '22.

WOOSTER, Ohio – Dual meets have become a rarity in college track and field, but that didn't stop North Coast Athletic Conference rivals The College of Wooster and Denison University from going head-to-head on Thursday evening inside the Scot Center. The Fighting Scots emerged victorious, with the men winning 74-69, and the women comfortably pulling away with a 75-55 victory.

On the men's side, Wooster and Denison were deadlocked at 62 after the 800 meters, setting the stage for an epic finish. Wooster clinched the victory in the 200 meters, where sophomore William McMichael's time of 23.65 edged out Denison's Charlie Webb's 23.93. McMichael's first-place finish, plus junior Mark Herron's third-place time of 24.26, gave the Scots the needed cushion to secure the victory.

As an added bonus, junior Drake Pence, junior Matt Olszewski, senior Aedan Pettit, and McMichael won the 4x400 relay at 3:38.26, over three seconds faster than Denison's top relay. That bumped the margin of victory out to five points. If Denison won the 4x400, then Wooster would've squeaked out a 72-71 victory.

A lot of Wooster's success on the men's side came from the long sprints and middle-distance events. There, McMichael (52.58) and Olszewski (53.99) were the top two finishers in the 400 meters. In the mile, senior Miki Rae's winning time of 4:35.59 was backed up by Pettit's runner-up clip of 4:38.54. Pettit picked up a big win in the 800 meters with a time of 2:06.66, while Rae's third-place time of 2:10.58 helped the Scots tie the meet at 62.

In the men's field events, sophomore Kristian Coleman took first in the triple jump at 41 feet, 5 inches, while first-year Cowen Croft had the top mark in the pole vault at 11 feet, 0.75 inches.

Wooster's women won six of the eight track events on the night. Sophomore Maya Vasta took home top billing in the 200 meters (28.19), 400 meters (1:05.07), and 4x200 relay (1:52.94). In fact, senior Korri Palmer, Vasta, sophomore Claudia Partridge, and first-year Sierra Lapasky cruised to the win in the 4x200, with the Scots' time ranking nearly 13 seconds better than the Big Red's 2:05.92.

Sophomore Kayla Bertholf was the Scots' other multi-winner in the track events. She beat out 13 other competitors in the 800 meters with a time of 2:32.14, and her 5:34.00 in the mile was tops of 14 entrants.

Lapasky's 8.55 was the top time in the 60-meter dash.

Partridge led the way among Wooster's field crew. She won the high jump (5 feet, 1 inch) and long jump (15 feet), while junior Jena Copley was the runner-up in both events.

Wooster makes the return trip to Denison for a dual meet during the outdoor season on April 16. Up next for the Scots is Denison's Bob Shannon Invitational on Saturday, February 8.