GAMBIER, Ohio – All-around scoring vaulted The College of Wooster women's track & field team to its first team title at an outdoor track & field meet with at least four teams since 2019, while the Fighting Scots' men claimed runner-up status at Saturday's Kenyon College Invitational.
Senior Will McMichael took down a 22-year-old Reggie Ray record on Saturday. Ray, a W Association Hall of Famer and three-time All-American, went 48.70 in the 400 meters in 2000, and McMichael was a touch better at 48.47 on Saturday. McMichael's winning time ranked in the top-20 nationally, per the posted times on the Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) entering the weekend.
Sophomore Dylan Garretson, who claimed ownership of the program outdoor pole vault record just a week ago, improved upon it, clearing 15 feet, 10 inches. He joined the field at 14 feet and went on a roll after getting over that progression, soaring over 14 feet 6 inches and 15 feet on the first try. With everyone else out, Garretson went straight for 15 feet, 10 inches and made the grade on his second try. He is the ninth Div. III pole vaulter to clear 15 feet, 10 inches this spring.
Troy Baughman crushed his personal-best in the javelin with the winning mark of 166 feet, 5 inches. That was a near-26-foot personal best for the senior. First-year Isaiah Kidd rounded out the field winners, going 44 feet, 8 inches in the triple jump. In the long jump, he reached 22 feet, 1 inch, which was second on the day.
Junior Joe Shilts, senior Nick Scherson, sophomore Davis Patterson, and McMichael capped the meet with the winning time of 3:31.12 in the 4x400 relay. Earlier, senior Alex DeLong's career-best 1:56.00 in the 800 meters broke the tape.
Other top-three men's finishes included first-year Vell Robinson (triple jump, second, 41 feet, 1.75 inches), sophomore Mitch Ecklund (800 meters, third, 2:00.76), and first-year Eric Johnson (5,000 meters, third, 17:40.79).
Sophomore Athena Tharenos' point production fueled the Scots' lineup. The middle-distance ace broke the tape in the 800 meters at 2:21.87, then anchored the winning 4x400 relay. First-year Maia Doescher, junior Haley Bloom, and first-year Igna Mendez helped Tharenos pave the way to a 4:15.22.
First-year Dylan Kretchmar's 19:52.18 led the field in the 5,000 meters, while classmate Juli Fiori scored a third-place finish, coming across at 21:54.27. Sophomore Ainsley Wiesner's javelin throw of 97 feet, 11 inches rounded out the first-place finishes.
Senior Grace von Scheliha matched a collegiate-best in the pole vault at 10 feet, the second-place mark of the day. Senior Kayla Bertholf opened the running events with the runner-up time of 12:39.35 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Next, Doescher, senior Maya Vasta, sophomore Drew Patterson, and first-year Daysia Hargrave crossed second in the 4x100, stopping the watch at 49.81. Mendez's 1:02.40 was the runner-up time in the 400 meters, as was sophomore Mary Sirois' 1:17.25 in the 400-meter hurdles.
Top-three women's finishes also included senior Morgan Kromer (pole vault, third, 10 feet), first-year Emily Munson (100-meter hurdles, third, 1:20.21), senior Marian Overfield (3,000-meter steeplechase, third, 14:14.77), and Sirois (100-meter hurdles, third, 17.10.
Wooster, which last claimed the team title at Kenyon's 2019 outdoor meet, scored 171 points, a comfortable separation from runner-up Kenyon's 129. Mount Vernon Nazarene University's 150 points led six men's teams. Wooster had 114 points, just ahead of third-place Denison University's 111.
Next, Wooster competes at Denison University's Invitational. Events on Friday, April 29 start at 12:30 p.m.
Photo by Abbi Tarburton '22