ROCHESTER, New York – Senior sprint ace Will McMichael debuted at nationals and capped his remarkable College of Wooster career with a 13th-place time of 47.53 in the 400 meters, while junior pole vault star Dylan Garretson finished just shy of All-America honors and a likely top-four national finish at the NCAA Div. III Championships on Friday.

McMichael improved upon his seed spot of 17th with his 47.53 ranking just above his final school-record time of 47.45 set at the Baldwin Wallace University Harrison Dillard Twilight on May 12. McMichael was one of 16 competitors who clocked in ahead of the Polisseni Track & Field Complex facility record. The senior was in the fast heat, placing fifth within the group, which featured four of the top-seven preliminary times.

"Will ran an incredible race and challenged the top people in the 400 meters this season," said Dennis Rice, Wooster's head coach. "He improved from his seed spot, which is incredible, especially with how competitive the 400 was this year at the national level. Will had an amazing career here at Wooster with incredible performances throughout his time here. He set the tone for the competitive spirit that our Fighting Scot track & field program takes pride in. Will was a great team member and a core member of our 4x400 relay that set our school record this past season and won the North Coast Athletic Conference championship. Will is an incredible competitor, who fears nothing when it comes to competition. That carries over from his incredible work ethic he has in training that gave him the opportunity to compete at the highest level."

Garretson, who was fourth in the pole vault at the 2023 NCAA Div. III Indoor Track & Field Championships to become the program's first men's indoor All-American, made things interesting early. He passed on the opening progression of 15 feet, 1 inch, then needed all three tries to clear the crossbar at 15 feet, 7 inches. The next progression of 16 feet, 0.75 inch proved to be the thwarter for Garretson and the field, with 15 of the 18 remaining competitors failing to get over that crossbar. Garretson was in the rotation early, so when all was said and done, he settled for 16th-place at his fourth NCAA Div. III Championships meet.

"Dylan had a super effort," added Rice. "He was certainly challenged by the top vaulters in the country. All of the top competitors were very close and tight knit in terms of overall efforts. What separated the top-eight from the top-20 were misses. Unfortunately, Dylan had two misses early on that impacted his overall performance. Overall, he had such an amazing season this year and we are looking forward to the opportunities he will have continuing to challenge the top vaulters at the NCAA level next year."

Ithaca College's Dominic Mikula was the pole vault champion at 16 feet, 6.75 inches. Gallaudet University's Eric Gregory carries the top qualifying time of 46.13 into Saturday's 400 meters finals.