2008 Women's Track Season Outlook

Scots Expect Similar NCAC Standing, Even Without Wieferich

Ali Drushal is looking to add to her collection of all-conference honors as a hurdler, javelin thrower, and pole vaulter.

Long-time head coach Dennis Rice has the unenviable task of trying to replace the points produced by a four-time All-American distance runner, as The College of Wooster lost Katie Wieferich to graduation, but he thinks the program possesses enough depth and talent to replicate a top-half finish within the North Coast Athletic Conference and possibly make an impact on the national scene again. With Wieferich in top form, the Fighting Scots were among the top-30 at the last two NCAA Div. III Championships (outdoor).

This season, versatile junior Ali Drushal and classmate Kayla Miller will likely be the leaders. Drushal, also a volleyball standout, is already a six-time all-conference honoree in track & field, highlighted by an NCAC championship during last winter’s pole vault competition (10 feet, 8 inches). She’s finished top-three in the javelin and 400-meter hurdles as well with respective top marks of 117 feet and 1:07.45.

Miller is a jumping specialist, having scored 10 times at NCAC meets during her career. She exhibited significant improvement last year, earning a pair of all-conference certificates by coming in second in the outdoor triple jump (36 feet, 1.25 inches) and third in the outdoor long jump (16 feet, 6 inches) as well as posting an NCAA qualifying mark in the outdoor triple jump (37 feet, 3.25 inches).

Wooster, which placed third (indoor) and fourth (outdoor) out of a field of nine league teams in 2007, has other proven all-NCAC performers in junior thrower Katie Dale and sophomore pole vaulter Sara Wiswell. As a freshman, Dale took third in the outdoor shot put (37 feet, 4 inches) and scored three times at last season’s meets, while Wiswell cleared a height of 9 feet, good for third-place, at her very first conference event.

Additional support in the field will come from sophomore jumper Kelly Aughenbaugh once she wraps up basketball season as well as senior jumper/heptathlete Ashley Baker, junior jumper Natalee Noche, junior thrower Victoria Peterman, and sophomore javelin specialist KateLynn Riley.

Riley will also complement Drushal in the hurdles, as will senior Kelly Patton, a four-time scorer at NCAC meets. The Scots could make an impact in middle distance events, behind Suzanne Capehart, as the freshman made a strong debut during the fall, garnering honorable mention on the All-NCAC Cross Country Team via a 16th-place finish at that meet. Senior Nicole Calderone and a strong group of underclassmen have the potential to score in the distance area, too.

All in all, Rice believes this group, which also includes a number of first-years who have the potential to contribute in the sprints, jumps, hurdles, and throws, can compete with the best in the NCAC, saying “I expect us to challenge the top teams in the conference as we progress through the season. We’ve had a great deal of success the last couple of years throughout the outdoor season … and that’s our same goal.”