Scot Track Teams Place Third at Greater Cleveland Meet

Matt Knepp

The College of Wooster indoor track and field teams are the third-best among NCAA Div. III schools in northeast Ohio, based on scores from this weekend’s (Feb. 21) Greater Cleveland Colleges Meet held at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

The Wooster men ended up with 92 points, finishing only behind host Baldwin-Wallace (148) and John Carroll University (133) at the event, which also brought together Case Western Reserve University, Hiram College, and Oberlin College.

The Scot men’s squad did not have any individual winners, but did record eight runner-up showings in the 16-event meet. In the sprints, Matt Knepp was just .03 seconds away from a win in the 55 meters (6.71), while fellow freshman Chris Taft took second in the 500 meters (1:09.26). Staying on the track, senior Evan McDaniel settled for runner-up in the 1500 meters (4:10.66), missing out on a victory by less than one-half second, while first-year Taylor Delhagen was second in the 5000 meters (16:00.02).

On the field, Wooster was paced by junior Nathan Collins, senior Corey Humphrey, sophomore Nii Djan Tackie, and junior Keith Vance, each placing second in their respective events. Collins cleared 13 feet in the pole vault, Humphrey was just one inch away from the win in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, one inch, Djan Tackie triple jumped 41’08.50", and Vance saw his three-meet winning streak in the shot put end at 48 feet, eight inches.

The Scot women had three individual winners, scored 85 points as a team, and were just a few points away from second-place Case Western Reserve (94.5), while Baldwin-Wallace won that meet (143.5), too.

Junior Karina Colbenson edged freshman teammate Kathy McCreary in the 500 meters, as they took 1-2 in that event with times of 1:27.55 and 1:27.81, respectively. Sophomore Jennie Stockdale cruised to a win in the 5000 meters, as her time of 18:27.16 was almost a full-minute ahead of her nearest competitor (19:10.58). And, first-year Jill Berner was victorious in the pole vault (10 feet).

Other notables were highlighted by seniors Nicki Artes’ and Nicole DeSantis’ runner-up performances in the shot put (37’09.50") and 300 meters (44.74), respectively, and another second-place from McCreary in the 800 meters (2:27.84) and senior Barbara Patrick, who crossed third in the 1000 meters (3:22.43)

The Wooster track teams have a week off to make final preparations for the end to their indoor season — the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships in Granville, Ohio, on March 7-8.