Thomas Pitney
Sports Editor
Wooster track and field continued its hot start on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Fighting Scots Invitational held at the Scot Center. Competing against Denison, Wittenberg, Kenyon, Allegheny and Muskingum, the Scots knew that this meet would be a good test to see how they stacked up against conference competition. Both teams rose to the occasion, as the women’s team won the meet outright while the men finished in second place.
The women demonstrated their skill in both the field and track events. Claudia Partridge ’23 got the Scots’ jumping squad off to a strong start with her victory in the high jump, leaping 1.60 meters to capture the title. Even at the beginning of the season, Partridge has noticed improvement from last season in the high jump. “Throughout the season I have been working closely with Coach Ellie (a new assistant coach) and I’ve gained a lot of confidence and have a better tempo while jumping. This was a wonderful start to the season and I’m very excited to see how far I can go with the high jump this year.” Fellow junior Morgan Kromer capitalized on the Scots’ momentum by winning the pole vault by reaching a height of 3.20 meters.
The Scots continued to find success on the track. Partridge once again came through in the 400-meter race, taking the top spot in the event with a time of 1:05.41. The sprinting squad also excelled in the all-important 4×200 meter relay. The Scots’ team, comprised of Maya Vasta ’22, Drew Patterson ’24, Daysia Hargrave ’25 and Partridge, emerged victorious in the event with a time of 1:50.51. The distance squad then sealed the victory for the Scots. Athena Tharenos ’24 won the 800-meter race in a time of 2:27.55, while Isabelle Hoover ’23 dominated the 3000-meter race, as her winning time of 10:28.78 was 28 seconds better than the second-place finisher. The Scots swept the relays and pulled away from the competition by winning both the 4×400 meter and distance medley relays. In the 4×400 meter relay, Vasta, Haley Bloom ’23, Tharenos and Ignacia Mendez ’25 cruised to victory with a time of 4:21.89. In the distance medley relay, Tharenos, Bloom, Mendez and Dylan Kretchmar ’25 trounced the competition with their time of 13:03.61.
The men also had some terrific field performances in their second-place finish. The Scots continued to stand above the rest in the pole vault, where Dylan Garretson ’24 took first prize with a height of 4.25 meters and Davis Patterson ’24 tied for second place by jumping to a height of 3.95 meters. In the high jump, Luke Henke ’23 finished second, reaching a height of 1.90 meters. Meanwhile, Isaiah Kidd ’25 achieved second place in the long jump with an impressive mark of 6.47 meters.
On the track, the Scots did not win any individual events but kept pace with some strong times. Bryant Douglas II ’25 led the sprinters with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter race with a time of 7.26 and a sixth-place time of 23.92 in the 200-meter race. Patterson was the best of the mid-distance crew, finishing in fourth place in the 400-meter race with a time of 54.17. The distance squad’s standouts included Drew Robertson ’25, who finished third in the 800-meter race, Bryson Simpson ’24, who captured fifth place in the one-mile race, and Will Callender ’25, who finished third in the 3000-meter race.
Though the Scots won neither the 4×200 meter relay nor the 4×400 meter relay, they excelled in the distance medley relay. Ben Nichols ’25, Nick Scherson ’22, Robertson and Alexander DeLong ’22 defeated Wittenberg’s team by four seconds to win the event and gain crucial points for the Scots to seal second place in the meet. DeLong was happy with the relay team’s performance, saying that “it felt great to win the DMR against Witt. They’re obviously an in-conference rival and beating them always feels really good. Drew [Robertson] in the third leg did an excellent job giving us a solid lead that I was able to hold on to.”
As both teams continue to find early success, their optimism about what this season has in store continues to skyrocket. Both Partridge and DeLong attribute this early success to their teams being hungry, which has created a more positive and competitive environment for the Scots. Partridge stated that “this year we have been working hard to create a good overall team environment. It was awesome to see everyone cheering for each other and offering encouragement. I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s individual progress and what else we can do as a team this season.” DeLong added that the positive energy is palpable, and further believes that the sky is the limit for this year’s team. “The energy at practice is more intense than it’s been in years and you can tell everyone wants to perform at their best. I think we’re going to make a bigger impact at the Conference meet than other schools might expect from us.”
The Scots’ next meet is on Saturday, Feb. 5, where they will travel to Denison University for the Bob Shannon Invitational.