Claudia Partridge

Miki Rae

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Sophomore Claudia Partridge's fifth-place finish in the high jump led the way for The College of Wooster track and field program at Saturday's All-Ohio Championships, which were hosted by Otterbein University.

Partridge finished in a three-way tie for fifth after clearing 5 feet, 1.75 inches on her first try. Also scoring individually for Wooster's women was sophomore Isabelle Hoover. She was seventh in the 5,000 meters at 18:50.98.

In relay action, sophomore Marian Overfield, seniors Audrey Cordova and Cobi Warstler, and sophomore Kayla Bertholf placed sixth in the distance medley relay at 13:22.12.

Other women's entrants for the Scots included Bertholf in the 3,000 meters, sophomore Maya Vasta in the 400 meters, and the 4x200 and 4x400 relays. Bertholf's time of 10:54.97 was 11th in the 3,000 meters. Vasta's season-best 400 meters' time of 1:01.90 was less than a second behind the final scoring spot. Partridge, Vasta, senior Korri Palmer, and first-year Sierra Lapasky were ninth in the 4x200 at 1:53.48, with that time just getting edged out by Ohio Northern University's 1:53.47 for the final scoring spot. Vasta, Partridge, Warstler, and Cordova crossed at 4:23.35 in the 4x400 relay. That time was 10th overall.

On the men's side, senior Miki Rae's career-best time of 8:58.14 in the 3,000 meters resulted in a seventh-place showing. First-year Luke Henke cleared 6 feet, 0.5 inches in the high jump to finish eighth, while the 4x200 relay team consisting of junior Drake Pence, sophomores William McMichael and Kristian Coleman, and junior Mark Herron had the eighth-place time of 1:34.83.

Sophomore Richie Pajak just missed on scoring, as he had the ninth-place mark of 5 feet, 10.5 inches in the high jump. Coleman took 11th in the triple jump at 40 feet, 9.5 inches. Herron (7.231 seconds) and Pence (7.239 seconds) were 13th and 14th in the 60-meter dash. Pence had a time of 23.68 seconds in the 200 meters. He finished 15th.

Similar to the women's 4x200 relay, the men's 4x400 relay came down to Ohio Northern and Wooster battling for the final scoring spot. The Polar Bears' quartet came in at 3:30.60, just ahead of the Scots' 3:30.73. First-year Joe Shilts, junior Matt Olszewski, Pettit, and McMichael earned Wooster's spots for that relay.

The University of Mount Union led 17 scoring teams on the men's side with 155.5 points, while host Otterbein took second with 96 points. Mount Union (119.5 points) and Otterbein (104.75 points) were the top two finishers on the women's side.

Next, Wooster competes at the Kenyon College Classic on Friday, February 21.