OBERLIN, Ohio – A one-two finish in the men's pole vault by sophomores Dylan Garretson and Davis Patterson led the way for The College of Wooster on day one of the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, while the Fighting Scots won three events and captured six all-conference honors at Oberlin College. Wooster's women are third with 41.5 points, while the men are in fifth-place with 29 points.

Men's pole vault was among the opening events, and there Garretson captured his fourth NCAC crown by clearing 14 feet, 11.5 inches on his second try at the progression. He is now tied for fifth in program history for the most NCAC first-place finishes, which includes individual titles within the program from cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. Of note, Garretson is the sixth in NCAC history to win the outdoor pole vault at back-to-back conference championships.

Patterson kept working his way up to an all-conference spot, and secured one with a successful clearance on his final try at 13 feet, 11.75 inches. The sophomore's persistence at 14 feet, 5.5 inches was rewarded on the final try there with a clearance. That gave Patterson a second-place NCAC finish and a new collegiate-best in the event.

First-year Isaiah Kidd swept the NCAC long jump titles for the year, a first by a NCAC athlete since Ohio Wesleyan University's Juwaun Tye in 2017. Kidd's best effort on Thursday was 22 feet, 9 inches, and he won the event by nearly a full foot, as fellow first-year Jack Blais from Denison University checked in with the runner-up mark of 21 feet, 10.25 inches.

Elsewhere in the field events Morgan Kromer scored all-conference honors in the pole vault for the second time, as the senior posted the third-place height of 10 feet, 11.75 inches, which matched a collegiate-best. Senior Grace von Scheliha upped her collegiate-best to 10 feet, 6 inches, and that earned fifth-place honors.

Senior Isabelle Hoover capped the day-one running events with the blue-ribbon time of 36:51.49 in the 10,000 meters. The time was just seconds off her collegiate-best of 36:46.32 from this spring's Bob Kahn Invitational, which also took place at Oberlin College. Of note, Hoover has won the 10,000 meters the last four times she competed in the event.

Sophomore Athena Tharenos kicked off Thursday's running events with the runner-up time of 11:39.75 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Tharenos, who earned all-conference honors for the sixth time, posted a new collegiate-best time in the event.

First-year Dylan Kretchmar's sixth-place 10,000 meters time of 39:31.24 rounded out Wooster's Thursday scorers.

In preliminary heats, senior Will McMichael qualified first for tomorrow's 400 meters championship with a time of 49.04, senior Maya Vasta (third, 1:00.73), junior Haley Bloom (sixth, 1:02.00), and first-year Igna Mendez (eighth, 1:02.81) all qualified for the championship final of the women's 400 meters, junior Joe Shilts had the fourth-best 400-meter hurdles qualifying time (56.86), and Vasta made the grade in the 200 meters with a prelim run of 26.56.

Denison leads the nine men's teams with 55 points, followed by Wabash College (47 points), DePauw University (42 points), and Oberlin College (32 points). Oberlin's 66 points leads the eight women's team, while DePauw's 42.5 points is just one ahead of Wooster's third-place total.

Field events get underway on Friday at 10 a.m. with track events set to start at 2:15 p.m.

Photo by Abbi Tarburton '22