Six U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region awards are headed The College of Wooster's way, with junior Dylan Garretson, senior Luke Henke, senior Claudia Partridge, junior Davis Patterson, and junior Drew Patterson among the honorees announced by the coaches association on Tuesday.
Garretson, one of Wooster's three-time national qualifiers, ranked third within the Great Lakes Region in the pole vault this winter. He recorded a career-best mark of 16 feet, 2.5 inches at Ohio Northern University's Polar Bear Final Qualifier on March 3, which marked the fifth time he upped his school record this season. Garretson, who went undefeated in the event leading up to the NCAA Div. III Championships, captured his fourth North Coast Athletic Conference title with a then-school-record mark of 16 feet, 1.25 inches. He cleared 15 feet, 10 inches at the Div. III All-Ohio Championships, and in doing so, topped the University of Mount Union's Kyel Wolff, who had the top mark within Div. III for the season at the time. Garretson scored two NCAC Athlete of the Week honors this winter, upping his career haul to five. Notable, this is Garretson's fourth all-region award.
Henke's career day at the All-Ohio Championships vaulted the senior into prime contention for an all-region award. He cleared a career-best 6 feet, 6.75 inches at the All-Ohio Championships for the first of an eventual five first-place finishes by Wooster competitors. Henke's All-Ohio performance marked a career-best by 2.5 inches and he was within 1.25 inches of the program's 9-year-old school record. Henke nearly matched his career-best with a clearance of 6 feet, 6 inches at the NCAC Championships to capture all-conference laurels for the second time. Henke opened the indoor season with three straight first-place high jump finishes.
Partridge, Wooster's other three-time national qualifier, led the region with a clearance of 5 feet, 6 inches in the high jump and ranked fourth with 2,779 points in the pentathlon to earn two all-region awards. Partridge's high jump during the NCAC Pentathlon, which she won, ranked within the top-10 in Div. III leading up to the national championships. Partridge's clearance during the NCAC Pentathlon was within a half inch of her school record. Partridge now has four all-region honors and seven-career All-NCAC awards.
Davis Patterson is now a two-time all-region performer, with both awards coming from the heptathlon. He originally broke Wooster's record in the event with 4,183 points at the 2022 NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, and shattered that mark with 4,641 points at this year's multi-events championship. Patterson's runner-up heptathlon finish was one of three All-NCAC awards he collected at this winter's championship, and he now has seven lifetime All-NCAC certificates. Patterson's 14 feet, 5.5 inches was the runner-up mark in the pole vault at this year's NCAC meet and he was part of the Scots' runner-up 4x400 relay, which crossed at 3:27.34. He is also a three-time All-Ohio performer.
Drew Patterson claimed all-region honors for the first time after clearing a career-best 5 feet, 4.5 inches at the All-Ohio Championships. The junior just missed on qualifying for nationals, ranking 25th in the event nationally. Patterson cleared 5 feet, 3 inches at the NCAC Championships for all-conference honors, with that marking her second-career all-conference placement. Patterson won the high jump at this season's All-Ohio Championships and earned two NCAC Athlete of the Week honors for the indoor season.
All-region honors are awarded to student-athletes who finish in the top-five in individual events and top-three in relays within a region.
Noteworthy, Wooster now has 19 all-region awards since the honors resumed with the 2021 outdoor season.