Scot Track Teams Enjoy Successful Day at Wooster Invitational

Tristan Jordan

The College of Wooster men’s and women’s track teams put forth a great effort at Saturday’s annual Wooster Invitational, with three different athletes being crowed individual champions in the 23-team event.

The Fighting Scot women shone the brightest, earning a second-place finish with 104.50 points, behind only Case Western Reserve University, which won the meet with 118.50 points. Rounding out the rest of the 12-team field was Thiel College (95.50), Walsh University (93.50), Notre Dame College (80.50), Ashland University (57.50), Cuyahoga Community College (53), Edinboro University (46), Denison University (41), Hiram College (15), Kenyon College (5), and Lake Erie College (4). Also of note, a dual meet was scored within the Wooster Invitational, as the Fighting Scot women defeated Edinboro 80-50.

The Wooster men finished the day in fifth place, scoring 86 points on the afternoon, while Ashland captured the men’s title with 107 points, followed by Case (95), Thiel (90) and Notre Dame (88).  Rounding out the 11-team field was Walsh (83), Edinboro (78), Denison (68), Kenyon (27), Hiram (7), and Lake Erie (4).

The Scots’ biggest star of the afternoon was Ali Drushal, who won both the pole vault and javelin throw, while placing second in the 400-meter hurdles and fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. Drushal cleared 2.90 meters to best the rest of the field in the pole vault, and her throw of 121 feet in the javelin was a full 11 inches greater than the next competitor. In the hurdles events, the sophomore turned in a time of 1:08.76 in the 400, while crossing the line in 16.93 in the 100.

Also earning an individual title was Kayla Miller, who won the triple jump with an effort of 34 feet, 7.75 inches, while she also took home third-place honors in the high jump (4 feet, 10 inches) and fifth in the long jump (15 feet, 0.75 inches).

The Scots also saw several other athletes place in the top-five, led by Kelly Aughenbaugh taking third in the triple jump (31 feet, 9.5 inches) and fourth in the long jump (15 feet, 4 inches). Katie Dale placed fourth in the shot put (10.68 meters), while Sarah Wiswell and Ashley Baker each recorded fifth-place showings, Wiswell in the pole vault (2.60 meters) and Baker in the javelin throw (89 feet, 5 inches).  Katie Wieferich was the only other Scot to earn a top-five finish in a running event, placing third in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:54.17.

The Wooster men also crowed an individual champion, with the Scots’ ace in the jumping events, Tristan Jordan, winning the triple jump with an attempt of 40 feet, 3 inches.

Rick Drushal’s throw of 45 feet, 3 inches in the shot put event was good for a second-place finish, and Drushal also took fifth in the discus, turning in a throw of 128 feet, 10 inches. Also in the field events, Robert McConnell placed third in the pole vault, clearing the bar in 3.35 meters.

The Scots had three athletes earn top-five finishes in the running events, led by Tim Presto’s fourth-place showing in the 1500 meter run (4:12.52).  Earning fifth-place finishes was both Ashton Segree in the 100-meter dash (11.66) and Robert Kelm in the 400-meter hurdles (59.49).

The Scots will be back in action next weekend when they head to Cleveland, Ohio for the Case Invitational set to begin at 11 a.m. on April 7.