MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina - The College of Wooster track and field team began the outdoor season with its traditional trip to the three-day Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational inside Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
The women's team finished 11th of 33 teams with 25 total points. The men placed 16th out of 33 teams with a total of 15 points.
Wooster had a number of standout podium finishes competing against athletes from various NCAA divisions, including a number of Div. I schools. One of the most impressive performances throughout the meet came from first-year King Jeju, fresh off his All-American showing at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships. The first-year toed the start line in the preliminary round of the collegiate 100-meter dash and posted a time of 10.76 seconds. That time was the third-fastest preliminary time of the meet, the fourth-fastest 100 dash time in school history, and tied for fifth-fastest in Div. III thus far this season. Jeju then went 10.80 seconds in the semifinal round to place 14th overall. He then backed up that performance with a ninth-place finish in the collegiate 200-meter dash in 21.64 seconds, landing third on the program's top-10 list in that event and fourth on the NCAA Div. III performance list at the time of the meet.
Leading the charge on the women's side was senior Athena Tharenos who claimed victory in one individual event for the Scots. Tharenos won her signature event - the collegiate 3,000-meter steeplechase - in a time of 11:31.41 to start the outdoor season ranking third nationally in the event. The senior had a strong showing in the collegiate 5,000 meters, placing seventh overall in 18:35.99.
Junior Daysia Hargrave and sophomore Lorenzo Freeman turned heads in the sprint hurdle events. In the collegiate 100-meter hurdle semifinals, Hargrave went 14.59 seconds to qualify for the finals. That qualifying time not only was the fourth-fastest of the semifinal round, but also ranked as the second-fastest time in all of Div. III at the time of the meet. The junior then finished fourth in the 100-hurdle finals in a time of 14.76 seconds. Meanwhile in the men's 110-meter hurdles event, Freeman went 15.17 seconds to win his heat and post the second-fastest time of the semifinals. The sophomore followed that up with a personal best in the finals, running 15.10 seconds to place third overall. Freeman's 15.10 time is the fourth-fastest in program history and ties for fifth nationally at the time of the event.
In other track action throughout the meet, junior Igna Mendez posted a career-best time of 1:01.96 to win the open 400 meters. First-year Reeve Helvoigt placed sixth in the open mile run with a time of 6:04.01 while fellow first-year Zanna Anderson finished 13th in the open 800 meters after crossing the finish line in 2:38.13. Hargrave, Mendez, junior Emily Munson, and Tharenos combined for a 10th-place finish in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:17.18, marking the Scots' only relay action of the meet.
First-year Nick Schade put together a career-best 4:54.56 in the open mile to finish 14th and senior Connor Krucek placed 17th in the open 800 meters in 2:15.95.
The impressive marks were not just limited to the track. Jeju took the jumps by storm, placing third in the collegiate long jump with a mark of 23 feet, 7.5 inches. That leap was good enough for second nationally at the time of the meet and fourth in Wooster program history. The first-year capped off his afternoon with a sixth-place finish in the collegiate triple jump, leaping 44 feet, 10.75 inches straight into sixth place on the program's top-10 and seventh on the Div. III performance list.
Not to be outshone in the jump events, junior Echo Kidd also leaped his way into the national performance list. Kidd placed 10th in the collegiate long jump with a jump of 22 feet, 1.75 inches, which is tied for eighth in Div. at the time of the meet. That was followed up with a mark of 42 feet, 6.75 inches to finish ninth in collegiate triple jump and tying for 21st nationally.
A pair of seniors made their marks on the women's field events, led by senior Ainsley Wiesner, fresh off a top-five weight throw finish at the NCAA Div. III Championships. Wiesner did not skip a beat in her first outdoor action of the season, placing eighth in the collegiate hammer throw with a mark of 158 feet, 5 inches to rank third in Div. III at the time of the meet. Senior Drew Patterson was the runner-up in the collegiate high jump after clearing a height of 5 feet, 2.25 inches, which tied for fourth nationally at the time of the meet.
Wooster continues the outdoor season on March 29 at the two-day Bob Kahn Invitational, hosted by Oberlin College.