Men Finish 6^th, Women 8^th at the NCAC Indoor Championship Meet

Nii Djan Tackie

The College of Wooster wrapped up the indoor season Friday and Saturday at the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in the Mitchell Center at Denison University. The men finished sixth out of 10 teams, while the women finished eighth of nine teams.

Capturing the men’s title was Allegheny, which finished with 128 points. They were followed by Ohio Wesleyan with 111 points and Wittenberg with 94 points. On the women’s side, Denison ran away with the title, finishing with 175 points. Ohio Wesleyan (112 points) and Allegheny (93 points) finished second and third, respectively.

While the Scot women collected only 28 points, Jill Berner was the highlight of the meet for Wooster, as she won the pole vault with an NCAC Indoor and Mitchell Center record height of 10’6.75". The vault also equaled her own school height that she had set February 20 at the Greater Cleveland Championships and provisionally qualified her for the NCAA Championship Meet, which is set for March 12-13 at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Wooster’s other strong showing on the women’s side came in the Distance Medley Relay, where the team of Julie Draper, Laura Barnhart, Kathy McCreary and Katie Wieferich finished second (13:04.86). In addition, Heather Reed placed sixth in the 55-meter hurdles (9.60).

For the Scot men, who finished with 49 points, the story was the end of a remarkable streak of eight-consecutive Distance Medley Relay titles. With Charlie Van Gambos, Wooster’s top distance runner, slowed by an injury, the Scots were narrowly defeated by Kenyon (10:40.72), who crossed the finish line less than a second ahead of Wooster (10:41.33).

The lone individual champion for the Scots was Nii Djan Tackie, who captured the triple jump (43’11.5"). Narrowly missing out on his third conference title in the shot put was Keith Vance, who placed second with a throw of 48’4.5", just behind Dan Ries of Earlham (49’2.25"). Just behind Vance was teammate Rick Drushal, with a throw of 48’2".

Performing well in the distance events was Matt Linman, who finished fourth in both the 3000 (9:06.16) and 5000 meters (15:59.21).

Also scoring for the men was James Williams, who placed sixth in the long jump 20’4.75", and Rob Kelm, who finished seventh in the 55-meter hurdles (8.22).