Drushal Helps Scots Finish Third at Kenyon Invite

Ali Drushal

Freshman Ali Drushal claimed a victory in the pole vault and finished third in the 55-meter hurdles at the Kenyon Invitational on Friday, Feb. 10, helping The College of Wooster women’s track and field team to a third-place finish among the nine-team field. The Fighting Scots racked up 80 team points to finish just ahead of Otterbein College (72), while Ohio Wesleyan University (127) and the host Ladies (112) claimed the top two spots.

With senior pole vault specialist and school-record holder Jill Berner competing at the All-Ohio Div. III Championships on Saturday, Feb. 11, Drushal utilized the opportunity to pick up her first individual victory in a collegiate track event. She cleared a season-best height of 10 feet, 3 inches to grab the top spot. Earlier in the meet, Drushal sprinted to a third-place finish in the hurdles with a time of 9.77, just 0.28 seconds behind the leader.

Three other Scots managed third-place finishes as well, including senior Hannah Bierlein in the 400-meter dash (1:05.63). Sophomores Nicole Calderone and Ashley Baker also finished third in the 1-mile run (5:44.96) and triple jump (29 feet, 5.25 inches), respectively.

Other notable finishes for Wooster’s women included juniors Ashley Zervos and Emily Rackley, who each finished just behind Calderone in the 1-mile in fourth (5:48.84) and sixth (5:52.16), respectively, junior Dana Doran-Myers, who claimed fourth-place in the 800 meters (2:37.57), and freshman Victoria Peterman, who tossed the shot put 32 feet, 7.25 inches, good enough for fourth overall.

At the All-Ohio's on Saturday, Berner placed third in the pole vault with a leap of 10 feet, 6 inches, finishing behind only Alysha Gossel of Otterbein College, who set a meet record of 11 feet, 4.5 inches, and Ashley Johnson of Wilmington College, who cleared 11 feet, 1 inch.

Drushal and fellow first-year Kayla Miller joined Berner at Ohio Northern University for the All-Ohio Championships, competing in the pole vault and the triple jump, respectively. Drushal finished 11th overall with a height of 7 feet, 4.5 inches, while Miller came in seventh with a total leap of 32 feet, 9.5 inches.

The Scots next compete at the Greater Cleveland Championships hosted by Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio, on Friday, Feb. 17, beginning at 5:30 p.m.