Scots Open Outdoor Season in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.  - Senior Will Callender set The College of Wooster outdoor 3,000-meter run record during the three-day multidivisional Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational, hosted by the city of Myrtle Beach at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.

The men's team finished 11th of 31 teams with 33 points while the women tied for 25th of 29 teams with four points. The meet features several teams across all NCAA divisions.

Callender finished third in both of his distance events, but it was the 3k race that was the head-turner. His podium finish came in a career-best and school-record time of 8:47.29. The senior also placed third in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 15:22.27, which ranks just outside the top 50 nationally. 

Not to be outdone, fellow senior Drew Robertson also had a pair of impressive performances including in his signature event, the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Robertson posted the fastest 3k steeple time in the nation at the time of the meet in a blazing 9:30.05 to win the event. The senior also toed the line for his first ever collegiate 10,000-meter run and placed third in 32:29.15.

Junior Rob Mays III turned in the best result for the Scots in the field and vaulted up both the program top-10 list and the NCAA Division III performance list. Mays tied for fifth in collegiate shot put when he unleashed a career-best 48 feet, 6 inches, which is the fifth farthest mark in the country at the time of the meet and tied for ninth best in program history. 

Fresh off her All-American finish at the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, senior Daysia Hargrave did not miss a beat in the outdoor season opener. Hargrave qualified to the collegiate 100-meter hurdle finals with a preliminary time of 14.54 seconds, the third-fastest time in the early outdoor season and the seventh-fastest time in prelims. The senior placed fifth in the finals with a time of 14.69 seconds.

Fellow senior Igna Mendez posted the Scots' other top-10 finish on the track, placing 10th in the collegiate seeded 800-meter run in a time of 2:23.91, which lands just outside the top-40 nationally. 

For the men, other notable marks came from sophomores Aaron Denis, Zephan Deal, junior Zane DeMercurio and senior Echo Kidd. Denis placed seventh in the collegiate pole vault event after clearing a height of 11 feet, 11.75 inches while Deal finished ninth in the open high jump with a height of 5 feet, 7 inches.

Kidd narrowly missed out the finals in both the long jump and the triple jump, finishing 10th overall in both events.

The senior leapt 44 feet, 11.5 inches in the triple jump, which is the sixth-farthest mark in Division III at the time of the meet. He also recorded a jump of 21 feet, 7.25 inches in the long jump, which ties for 10th nationally.

DeMercurio had a career-best effort in the open 1-mile run, placing 11th with a time of 4:41.36. 

Senior Amelia Mitchell and first-year Eilidh Horn placed in the top 10 in both of their open track events. Mitchell ran 1:02.91 in the open 400-meter dash to finish fourth and Horn placed seventh in the open 1-mile run in 6:28.82.

Mitchell also turned in the Scots' top field result with a 12th-place finish in the open high jump with a height of 4 feet, 7 inches. Senior Jessie Breth took 18th in the collegiate 5,000-meter run, crossing the finish line in 21:01.62.

Sophomore Colette Christopher posted an outdoor career-best time of 13:59.82 in the collegiate 3,000-meter run to finish 23rd overall and placed 25th in the collegiate 5,000-meter run in a time of 24:58.69. 

Wooster continues the outdoor season on March 28, to kick off the two-day Bob Kahn Invitational. Action begins at 1 p.m. on Friday at Kahn Track & Shults Field.