Scots’ Season Continues at Case Friday Night

Ali Drushal

The College of Wooster track & field teams continue their indoor season with a short trip to Cleveland, Ohio, for the Case Invitational, hosted by Case Western Reserve University, this Friday, Feb. 2, at 6 p.m. It will be a scored meet with scheduled schools to be there, including Allegheny College, Baldwin-Wallace College, Buffalo State College, Case, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Oberlin College, and Thiel College, along with the Fighting Scots.  

Last Week: On Jan. 27, the Wooster track & field teams both finished among the top half of their respective fields at the annual North Coast Athletic Conference Relays, as the men placed fifth (of 10) and the women fourth (of nine). The meet was hosted by Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
    The Scots’ men’s squad scored 53.5 points, less than 25 off the pace of team champion Wabash College (78). They were led by senior Rick Drushal (Lakeville, Ohio / West Holmes) and junior Tristan Jordan (Virginia Beach, Va. / Floyd E. Kellam), each earning runner-up honors. Drushal tossed the shot put 46 feet, 3 inches, while Jordan recorded a mark of 42 feet, 3.25 inches in the triple jump. Jordan also added a third-place effort in the long jump (20 feet, 2 inches). Another top performance was sophomore Dierre Taylor’s (Akron, Ohio / Garfield) third-place in the 55-meter hurdles (8.23), while Averell Gatton (McLean, Va. / Langley) was top-eight in two events, tying for fifth in the high jump (5 feet, 8 inches) and taking seventh in the long jump (19 feet). Other individual noteworthy efforts (top-eight) came from Matt Jensen (Concord, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) and Eric Dyer (Lexington, Mass. / Lexington), who were sixth in the 55 hurdles (8.35) and eighth in the long jump (18 feet, 3 inches), respectively, while Wooster’s top relay consisted of Bryan Albani (Warren, Ohio / Howland), John Officer (Hanover, N.H. / Hanover), Sateesh Venkatesh (Bedford, Mass. / Bedford), and  Ashton Segree (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Central Catholic) taking fourth in the 4x200 (1:37.69).
    Sophomore Ali Drushal (Lakeville, Ohio / West Holmes) produced the Scots’ lone individual win from the NCAC Relays, clearing 9 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault, and teammate Sara Wiswell (Broadview Hts., Ohio / Brecksville-Broadview Heights) led Wooster to a team victory in that event by tying for fourth-place (8 feet). Drushal also made an impact in the 55 hurdles, finishing eighth (9.76), while KateLynn Riley (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake) came in fifth (9.48). Kayla Miller (Mercer, Pa. / Mercer Area) had a very productive day, scoring in three events, as she tied for fourth in the high jump (4 feet, 10 inches), took sixth in the triple jump (32 feet, 1.5 inches), and placed eighth in the long jump (14 feet, 6.75 inches). Also in the high jump, Natalee Noche (Cambridge, Ohio / Cambridge) tied for sixth (4 feet, 6 inches). Overall, the Scot women tallied 53 points, while the Ohio Wesleyan University women won (98).