John McGovern
Viewpoints Editor
Last Saturday, Wooster hosted the Fighting Scot Invitational in the Scot Center to an alumni-filled crowd for their final home indoor meet of the season. The women’s track and field team bested their four opponents for a first place finish with a team total of 198 points. Baldwin-Wallace College had 161.5 and Wittenberg University had 87. The men’s team finished fourth out of five with 89 points.
The women’s team continued their excellence in the distance events, notching two second place finishes in the mile and 3000-meter dash. Kelsie Herring ’12 finished the mile less than two seconds off the winner, while Meredith Shaul ’12 ran 40 seconds faster than her nearest opponent. The 400-meter dash was also an exceptional event for the women’s team, with Kendra Shehy ’14, Taylor Morgan ’13 and Jeannie Quenneville ’12 finishing second, third and fourth, respectively, with less than two seconds between them.
The true dominance of the afternoon came from the field events. Combined, Wooster took three firsts, four seconds and four thirds through jumps and throws. High Jump stood out as the most impressive event, led by Abena Boamah-Acheampong ’13’s record-breaking performance of her own personal best. Following were Shehy and Amy French ’14 in second and third, respectively.
Coach Rice had nothing but praise for the team. To keep the team competitive for the remainder of the season, Rice said, “The key to success is to keep everyone healthy. We can do a lot more training with the new Scot Center, and we can do it in a systematic way.” On the field events, Rice remarked, “You need balance, and field kicks off the team aspect of a meet. We try very hard to have a balanced team.”
The men’s team finished the meet shy of third by five points. Highlights included Kevin DeGroot ’14 edging out Kenyon’s Neil Campbell for the win in the 3000 and Luke Hutchings-Goetz ’14 third in a quick mile race. Michah Caunter’s third place in the 800 came after winner Chad Kosanovich of Denison ran sub two minutes.
Baldwin-Wallace performed admirably throughout the meet, including two wins in the relays, which featured incredibly fluid exchanges.
Rice was proud of the inaugural season, as well as the Scot Center facilities. “Every coach has been so impressed with the overall appearance, how it’s not just a box. After 27 years of coaching, having an on-campus facility like this is a dream come true.” The next home meet for track will be Friday, March 30.