DELAWARE – The College of Wooster track and field teams kicked off the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference with six All-NCAC honors, one event winner and a number advancing to the finals of their respected events on Saturday.
Junior Dylan Garretson gave Wooster its lone champion on the day, winning his third consecutive outdoor title in the pole vault with a height of 15 feet, five inches. He cleared almost a whole foot from the second-place finisher (14 feet, 5.25 inches).
Garretson also is Wooster's first three-time repeat winner in a men's outdoor event.
Wooster then had three runner-up finishes in final events for All-NCAC honors.
Sophomore Drew Robertson improved his 3,000-meter steeplechase time this season by over 20 seconds on Friday to jump to second place in the event. He ran a 9:20, which also puts him third all-time in the program records.
Classmate Will Callender was on the outside looking in, finishing fourth in 9:42.04. It was a top 10 time in program history and still scored five points for the squad.
Another second-place finisher was Junior Athena Tharenos on the women's side. She entered with the second-best time in program history in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and broke it on Friday with a time of 11:03.59.
She surpassed the 2013 record of Erin Plews-Ogan who ran it in a time of 11:04.36.
Senior Morgan Kromer fell just shy of winning the pole vault but still claimed All-NCAC honors with a second-place finish at 10 feet, nine inches. First-year Sarah Hiestand secured sixth place (9 feet, 3.25 inches) for three points.
Among third place finishers and still claiming All-NCAC honors was senior Conor Greene and sophomore Echo Kidd.
Greene earned All-NCAC honors in the hammer throw with a throw of 156 feet, five inches. He also scored two points for a seventh-place finish in the discus (132 feet, 5 inches).
Kidd repeated with All-NCAC honors in the long jump, finishing third at 22 feet, 6.5 inches.
In the men's prelims, first-year Lorenzo Freeman ran the 110 hurdles in 15.15 seconds to qualify for the finals. It was a personal best time for him as well and sixth best in program history.
Will McMichael topped the prelim times in the 400 meters at 48.32 seconds. Nick Scherson also qualified for the finals with a time of 48.88 seconds in fourth position.
Scherson will also race in Saturday's 200-meter race after a seventh place showing (22.32) in the prelims. The time of 22.32 seconds is also a program top 10 time.
In the 400 hurdles, senior Joe Shilts finished fourth (57.40), and first-year Jake George finished sixth (58.43) to both qualify for the finals Saturday.
Cam Ray was 10th in the 800, failing to qualify with a top eight spot.
In the women's prelims, Daysia Hargrave (15.19), Mary Sirois (16.07) and Clare Mackin (16.30) all qualified for the 100-meter hurdles finals. Hargrave's time was good for second, while Sirois and Mackin came in at fourth and fifth, respectively.
Hargrave also came in the second in the 400 hurdles (1:08.22), and sophomore Emily Munson will join her in the finals after finishing eighth (1:11.69).
Izzy Cozzie and Haley Bloom missed out on qualifying in the finals of the 400, finishing ninth and 10th, respectively.
Elsewhere, junior Ainsley Wiesner came in eighth in the javelin (81 feet) finals, and Dylan Kretchmar came in eighth in the 10,000-meter run (42:40.66).
After day one, the Wooster men are in fourth with 37 points, while the women are fifth with 26 points. Denison University leads the men's standings with 53.5 points, and Wittenberg University leads the women with 65 points.
Saturday's finals start at 10 a.m. with field events and 2:30 p.m. for track events.