Wooster Captures Three Individual Titles on Day One of NCAC Championships

GRANVILLE, Ohio – Senior Dylan Garretson completed the career sweep of North Coast Athletic Conference pole vault titles to lead The College of Wooster track and field program on day one of the outdoor conference championships. Wooster's men are in fifth-place with 29 points, while the women are also fifth at 31.5 points.

Garretson won the pole vault on his opening clearance of 15 feet, 3 inches, and that is his seventh NCAC pole vault title. The senior won the event each time the conference championships were contested during his college career. Garretson went on to clear 16 feet, 0.75 inch on the first try at that progression.

First-year King Jeju was the men's other conference champion on the day. Jeju swept the long jump titles for the season, reaching 22 feet, 9.25 inches. The first-year opened with a jump of 22 feet, 8 inches, which punched a ticket to finals, then he went 22 feet, 7 inches and 22 feet, 9.25 inches in finals to secure the conference title by 2.25 inches over Wittenberg University's Joshua Weisenberger.

Senior Athena Tharenos ran away from the field in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, winning by nearly 25 seconds. In fact, Tharenos' 10:58.09 is a new school record. The senior pulled away on lap two and saw her lead reach nearly six seconds come the end of lap three. On the men's side, junior Drew Robertson earned all-conference honors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the conference runner-up. Robertson's time came in at 9:24.27.

Wooster just missed on all-conference laurels in other field events. In the high jump, senior Drew Patterson cleared 5 feet, 1 inch for a fourth-place showing, while in the javelin throw, senior Ainsley Wiesner went 103 feet, 10 inches for fifth-place. Two of Wiesner's four successful throws went for over 102 feet. Sophomore Evie Sanford's 126 feet, 11 inches in the discus was just shy of a season-best and ranked fifth within the NCAC. Sophomore Sarah Hiestand cleared a collegiate-best 10 feet, 2.5 inches for a sixth-place showing in the pole vault.

The 10,000 meters was the other scored final on the day. Junior Will Callender went 33:42.39 for eighth-place.

Wooster qualified four individuals to finals in Friday's preliminary heats. Junior Daysia Hargrave's 14.56 in the 100-meter hurdles prelims led 16 competitors, and the national-qualifier hopeful will be joined in the final by senior Mary Sirois, who was sixth at 15.78. Hargrave will be in the 400-meter hurdles finals as well, with the time of 1:04.40 ranking third. On the men's side, senior Joe Shilts qualified third with a time of 56.47 in the 400-meter hurdles. Patterson will run in the finals of the 100-meter dash, thanks to the eighth-place prelim time of 12.90.

Host Denison University and Wittenberg are tied atop the men's standings with 48 points. Wabash College (39 points) and Ohio Wesleyan University (32 points) are the other teams ahead of Wooster. On the women's side, Wittenberg has an 86.5-66 lead over second-place DePauw University. Ohio Wesleyan (50 points) and Oberlin College (42 points) are the other teams ahead of Wooster.

Saturday's field events start at 10 a.m. while the track events start at 2:15 p.m.