NCAA Div. III Championships Qualfier Release
The College of Wooster's Dylan Garretson and Claudia Partridge are headed back to the NCAA Div. III Championships, as the Fighting Scots' standout track & field athletes were among the national qualifiers announced by the NCAA committee on Friday evening. Garretson will compete in the pole vault and Partridge will compete in the high jump.
Garretson exceeded 16 feet in the pole vault for the first time at the University of Mount Union's Last Chance Meet on Thursday. There, Garretson cleared 16 feet, 1.25 inches, which vaulted the sophomore up to the 11th seed for next week's national meet. Earlier this spring Garretson surpassed Tim Sir Louis' 1999 outdoor school record with a mark of 15 feet, 4.25 inches at the All-Ohio Championships. He has since upped his school record twice, first to 15 feet, 10 inches at the Kenyon College Spring Invitational, then to 16 feet, 1.25 inches. Garretson won his fourth North Coast Athletic Conference pole vault title this spring and took first in the pole vault in every outdoor meet. He placed 14th at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Track & Field Championships in March after bowing out at 14 feet, 9 inches.
Partridge cleared 5 feet, 5.75 inches in the high jump at Baldwin Wallace University's Harrison Dillard Twilight Meet on May 13 for her outdoor collegiate-best. She is seeded 20th in next week's high jump field. Partridge earned all-conference honors after a second-place clearance of 5 feet, 1 inch at the NCAC Championships this spring. Earlier in the season, Partridge went 5 feet, 2.25 inches in the high jump at the All-Ohio Championships, and that mark garnered All-Ohio honors. Partridge broke the program's indoor school record en route to winning the high jump at the NCAC Championships. There, Partridge went 5 feet, 6.5 inches. She cleared 5 feet, 3.25 inches at the Div. III Championships during the indoor season, and that was good for a 12th-place finish.
Of note, this is the first time since the 2014 NCAA Div. III Outdoor Track & Field Championships where the Scots have a male and female competing.
The women's high jump is scheduled for Friday, May 27 at 11:30 a.m., while the men's pole vault is at noon on Saturday, May 28. The NCAA Div. III Championships are taking place at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.