The College of Wooster's Dylan Garretson (pole vault), King Jeju (long jump), and Ainsley Wiesner (weight throw) have qualified for the NCAA Div. III National Championships, which take place March 8-9 at Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Virgina.
Garretson, a senior, is a five-time national qualifier and has made the national championships each time it has been contested during his Fighting Scots' career. Last year, Garretson became the program's first male indoor All-American by placing fourth in the pole vault (16 feet, 2.75 inches), which upped his own school record. Garretson cleared 14 feet, 9 inches for a 14th-place finish at the 2022 indoor national championship, which marked his first national appearance. Garretson upped his national championships'-best mark to 15 feet, 3 inches at the 2022 outdoor national meet, and that was good for a 16th-place showing. Last spring, Garretson placed 16th, clearing 15 feet, 7 inches at the outdoor championships. The senior is a six-time North Coast Athletic Conference pole vault champion and projects to earn a sixth U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region certificate when it is announced this season. He is seeded third in the event after upping the school record to 16 feet, 7.5 inches at the University of Akron Invitational on Feb. 2.
Jeju exploded onto the scene, breaking the program's 32-year-old long jump record in his collegiate debut on Jan. 13. Jeju reached 24 feet, 1 inch, shattering the school record of 22 feet, 9.75 inches set by Mark Marando in 1992. Only four other NCAA Div. III long jumpers have been longer than Jeju this season. The NCAC Field Athlete and Newcomer of the Year was the NCAC champion (23 feet, 7.25 inches) and the All-Ohio champion (23 feet, 8.75 inches) in the long jump and won the event all four times he took part in the field this winter. Jeju, a projected USTFCCCA All-Region honoree in the long jump also broke the program records in the 60-meter dash (6.85), 200 meters (22.25), and triple jump (45 feet, 5.75 inches) in his debut indoor season.
Wiesner, ranked 15th in the weight throw with a mark of 58 feet, 1 inch, is also making a debut appearance at the national championships. Wiesner entered the year with the school record in the event at 51 feet, 3 inches and has upped that record in four of the senior's last five starts. Wiesner first upped the school record to 54 feet, 6.75 inches at the Fighting Scots Invitational on Jan. 20, and then was the best in all of Div. III within Ohio on Feb. 10, extending the record to 55 feet, 11.75 inches. Another betterment of the record came at Kenyon College's Tune-Up, where Wiesner hit 56 feet, 11.5 inches.
Jeju competes at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, while Garretson and Wiesner both get started at 3:30 p.m.
Of note, the program has qualified seven Fighting Scots to the national championships over the last three national meets.