NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships Webpage | Wittenberg Hosting Page
This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster men's and women's indoor track & field team heads to Wittenberg University for the 2022 North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday. Friday's field events start at noon with track events slated to begin at 2 p.m. Field events on Saturday start at 10 a.m. and track events begin at 2:30 p.m.
Spectator Policy: Spectators are not permitted at the NCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships, per a release from the conference office on Monday, January 24. This is to enable full squads from all conference teams full participation in the championship meet without any reduction in competitors. Teams will be spaced out appropriately throughout the entire facility, including the spectator seating areas, in order to de-densify the amount of people congregating around a particular event.
Media Coverage: Fans can follow along through the available livestream and live results as found on the NCAC Track & Field Championships webpage. Fans can also follow the track & field team's Twitter account @WoosterXCTF for live updates.
Looking Back at the 2020 NCAC Indoor Championships: Wooster's women placed fifth and the men took seventh at the 2020 NCAC Indoor Championships, which were hosted by Denison University. There was no indoor conference championship in 2021.
Then-sophomore Will McMichael (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) earned NCAC Athlete of the Year honors for men's sprints and hurdles events. The six-time All-NCAC performer won the 400 meters with a school-record time of 49.75, and in doing so, became the NCAC's first repeat indoor 400 winner since the 2008-09 championships. McMichael's time broke Eric Rogers' 28-year-old school-record time of 50.01. He also was part of Wooster's runner-up and school-record-setting 4x200 relay that crossed at 1:32.15 at the NCAC Championships. Alumni Mark Herron and Drake Pence, and then-sophomore Kristian Coleman (Lubbock, Texas/Lubbock) rounded out the record-setting relay.
Alumna Akwia Tilton, fresh off basketball season, made a difference right away by securing All-NCAC honors in the long jump and 4x200 relay. Tilton was second in the long jump at 17 feet, 11.5 inches. She later teamed with then-sophomore Maya Vasta (Forest Park, Ga./Forest Park), then-sophomore Claudia Partridge (Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle), and alumna Korri Palmer for a second-place finish in the 4x200 at 1:47.66.
Elsewhere, then-sophomore Isabelle Hoover (Millersport, Ohio/Fairfield Union) was an All-NCAC finisher in the 5,000 meters (18:49.89), as was the men's distance medley relay consisting of alumni Aedan Pettit, Matt Olszewski, Matt Klonowski, and Miki Rae.
Scots Score Two All-NCAC Honors, Break Record at NCAC Heptathlon & Pentathlon Championships: Sophomore Davis Patterson (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) finished strong in the NCAC Heptathlon Championship, with his 4,183 points breaking Jordan Dennis' 2019 record of 4,041 points. Patterson climbed up to third-place down the stretch to claim his first career All-NCAC honor. In the pentathlon, first-year Daysia Hargrave (Orrville, Ohio/Orrville) finished at 2,924 points, which was third, thus resulting in All-NCAC honors. Partridge finished fifth in the pentathlon at 2,655 points, while Vasta rounded out the scorers with the eighth-place haul of 2,496 points.
Wooster's Mr. NCAC: McMichael is the most decorated Scot on this year's team at the conference level. He collected NCAC Athlete of the Year honors for men's sprints and hurdles the last time the indoor conference meet was contested. As mentioned, he won the 400 meters, becoming the first repeat winner in the event since the 2008 and 2009 championships. As a first-year, McMichael helped Wooster to a third-place indoor finish, marking the program's highest since 2001. That year, he won the 400 meters with a time of 50.91 and earned a second All-NCAC certificate at the meet as part of Wooster's second-place and school-record 4x200 relay (1:32.35). In addition to his six all-conference honors, McMichael is a five-time NCAC Athlete of the Week.
Over 30-Year-Old Record Falls: Sophomore Dylan Garretson (Newcomerstown, Ohio/Newcomerstown) has claimed the blue ribbon in the pole vault in 13 of 15 collegiate meets. He cleared 15 feet, 3 inches in a dual meet with Denison on January 22 to surpass Jeff Waugh's school record (15 feet) that stood since 1989. Just over a week later, Garretson upped his record to 15 feet, 8.25 inches at Denison's Bob Shannon Invitational. He holds the top seed mark in the NCAC and is ranked 18th nationally in the event.
Kretchmar Gives Scots Plenty of Versatility: First-year Dylan Kretchmar (Granville, Ohio/Granville), a two-time NCAC Athlete of the Week, gives the Scots plenty of versatility heading into the championships. Kretchmar has the top converted seed time of 5:14.98 in the mile and is seeded fifth in the 3,000 meters, thanks to a converted time of 10:42.85 at Kenyon College's meet. The first-year boasts six first-place finishes this indoor season, with the others coming in the 3K (10:49.46) at the Wooster Quad, the distance medley relay (13:03.61) at the Fighting Scots Invitational, the 800 meters (2:32.92) in the dual with Denison, and the 4x400 relay (4:29.51) at the Kenyon meet.
Instant Impact: Sophomore Athena Tharenos (St. Louis, Mo./Mary Institute & St. Louis Country Day School) earned All-NCAC honors with the third-place 800 meters time of 2:25.62 in her debut NCAC Championships last spring. Then, during cross country season, Tharenos turned in one of the top seasons in program history. While competing in cross country at the collegiate level for the first time, Tharenos earned All-NCAC honors with the sixth-place time of 23:38.1 at the conference championships, with her finish marking the highest by a Scot since W Association Hall of Famer Katie Wieferich won the 2006 individual title. Tharenos helped the Scots to a third-place finish at the NCAC Cross Country Championships, the program's best since 1998. She was the fifth Div. III finisher at the All-Ohio Championships with a time of 23:46.3, and was one of three Scots to earn All-Ohio honors on the women's side. This year, Tharenos is seeded second in the 800 meters (2:20.78) and fifth in the mile (5:17.88).
Hoover is Wooster's Distance Ace: Senior Isabelle Hoover (Millersport, Ohio/Fairfield Union) earned All-NCAC honors at the last NCAC Championships, taking third in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:49.89. In fact, Hoover is a two-time All-NCAC 5K finisher at the indoor conference meet. This fall, Hoover earned first-team All-NCAC honors with the seventh-place time of 23:41.1 at the NCAC Cross Country Championships, and prior to 2021, Wooster's last first-team cross country harrier was W Association Hall of Famer Katie Wieferich in 2006. Hoover is a seven-time NCAC Athlete of the Week, with her most recent honor coming from the winning 3,000 meters time of 10:28.78 at the Fighting Scots Invitational.
Newest Event's Record Falls Again: First-year Natalie Tanner (Union, Ky./Larry Ryle) broke the program's weight throw record with a toss of 45 feet, 0.25 inch at Denison's Bob Shannon Invitational. Tanner is also a member of the volleyball team, as was Savannah Moore, the previous holder of the program record. Moore's mark of 42 feet, 10.75 inches stood since 2015.
Talking Seeds: Men's top-three seeds for this week's NCAC Championships are held by McMichael (400 meters, 50.33%, Kenyon meet), senior Alex DeLong (East Greenwich, R.I./East Greenwich) (mile, 4:17.59%, All-Ohio Championships), distance medley relay (10:38.09%, Fighting Scots Invitational), junior Luke Henke (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) (high jump, 6 feet, 4 inches, All-Ohio Championships), Garretson (pole vault, 15 feet, 8.25 inches, Bob Shannon Invitational), and first-year Isaiah Kidd (Richmond, Va./Varina) (long jump, 22 feet, 5 inches, All-Ohio Championships). Garretson and Kidd are seeded first in their respective events, while times with a % after them are time conversions from a 200-meter track to a 300-meter track.
Talking Seeds Part 2: Women's top-three seeds for this week's NCAC Championships are held by Tharenos (800 meters, 2:20.78%, Kenyon meet), Kretchmar (mile, 5:14.98%, Denison dual), Hoover (3,000, 10:23.44%, Fighting Scots Invitational), 4x200 relay (1:47.43%, All-Ohio Championships), distance medley relay (12:55.31, Fighting Scots Invitational), Partridge (high jump, 5 feet, 3.75 inches, Wooster Quad), and Hargrave (long jump, 17 feet, 2.25 inches, All-Ohio Championships). Kretchmar, Hoover, and the distance medley relay have the top seeds. Times with a % after them are time conversions from a 200-meter track to a 300-meter track.