Pride-Filled Wooster Team Set for 2025

Led by a returning All-American and several record holders, The College of Wooster women's track and field team is eager to get started on its 2025 season and work towards achieving true potential.

"Our theme this year is to create a very passionate, enthusiastic team that challenges themselves to reach their true potential not only as individual members, but also as a team," stated veteran head coach Dennis Rice. "We want everyone to bring out the best in each other, work hard, and develop a strong team concept throughout the season. Our team strives to take great pride in representing The College of Wooster throughout campus, in the classroom, and at the conference, regional, and national levels."

All-American hurdler Daysia Hargrave, the program's record-holder in the 60 and 100 hurdles, headlines the returnees. The senior is coming off an 11th-place showing in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Div. III Championships.

"Daysia's primary events will continue to be the short hurdles," shared Rice. "If Daysia gets a little bit stronger, she has the opportunity to get to the national championships in the 400 hurdles. If everything falls into place for Daysia with training and health, she has every opportunity to challenge at the national level in the heptathlon and pentathlon."

Getting to the national level is something Rice is confident junior Evie Sanford has the capability of doing. Sanford holds the program records in the indoor and outdoor shot put and the discus.

"Evie has a tremendous work ethic and is very committed to continuous improvement," said Rice. "Evie has done a great job for us the last couple of years. It will be exciting seeing Evie develop throughout the season pursuing a chance to showcase the capabilities at the national level."

Relays are always given extra emphasis throughout Wooster's program and are an area Rice likes to see the Fighting Scots taking great pride in. Wooster's depth in the sprints, middle distance, and jumps have provided the perfect balance for talented relays over the years, and something Rice is looking to continue this year.

"We have a solid group of team members in these areas who show excellent potential to compete at a high level," confirmed Rice. "Our success comes down to staying healthy overall and our team members getting the workload in that is needed for us to achieve our true potential."

Rice will look to the likes of junior Izzy Cozzie, sophomore Claire Davis, senior Maia Doescher, Hargrave, and senior Clare Mackin to be the leaders among the sprinters. Senior Igna Mendez is the cornerstone of Wooster's middle distance crew.

"We will have excellent success in the sprints if we develop very strong team chemistry," said Rice. "Our middle distance core will develop as we progress through the season. If we are able to work together to enhance each other's capabilities to perform at a high level, we will have great success."

Davis and Hargrave are among the keys in the jumps, where Wooster has enjoyed much success at the championship level in recent years. Senior Amelia Mitchell, an all-conference volleyball player, joins the team for the first time and showcases "great potential" in the high jump, per Rice. Rising sophomore Ellie Fox rounds out the key returnees in the jumps.

Distance is an area where Wooster saw tremendous growth this fall, and Rice is excited for the prospects for track and field season. Senior Dylan Kretchmar, the 2024 All-Ohio 10,000-meter champion, leads the distance runners, while classmates Jessie Breth, Isabelle Dwyer, and Elise Greenwald made tremendous strides throughout the fall and are now looking to capitalize on that as they finish out their careers at the College. Sophomore Zanna Anderson is a versatile middle distance and distance runner who saw great success as part of Wooster's All-Ohio distance medley relay last winter.

"I'm really happy with the way the women's team progressed this fall," shared Rice. "Our distance runners work hard and have fun being part of the team concept."

Hurdles has traditionally ranked as another area of strength in Wooster's program with multiple All-Americans over the last decade. Behind Hargrave, Rice has Mackin and senior Emily Munson, giving Wooster a trio with capabilities to score at the conference level.

Throws is an area where Wooster has seen tremendous growth the last few seasons. Sanford is a two-time conference champion in the shot put. Rising sophomores Samarah Destin and Leanna Plank's continuous improvements have them on the cusp of being able to challenge some of the top throwers at the conference level.

"We are going to continue to build off the development of our throwers heading into this season," said Rice. "Our throwers have a very strong work ethic and commitment to achieving success."

Junior Sarah Hiestand made great strides in the pole vault last year. Wooster's other returning pole vaulter is sophomore Cheyenne Wentz.

When it comes to the newcomers in the program, Rice is "looking for them to get experience, especially at the championship level," so the program can "build for the future with this group," per Rice.

Wooster's season starts with back-to-back home indoor meets on January 18 and 25, and the program hosts its outdoor invitational April 4-5.

"Our home meets and the championship meets are big points of pride for our program," wrapped up Rice. "With numerous home meets, we are able to give each team member opportunities to make the championship meets."