The Wilmington College men’s and women’s track and field teams open their indoor season Sunday at Otterbein.
Because of COVID-19 precautions set by the Ohio Athletic Conference, no fans will be permitted to attend any event until at least March 1.
For the men, there is a distinct Clinton County flavor. Led by Wilmington High School graduate Simon Heys, WC athletes from our county include Cameron Combs of WHS, Tanner Creager of Blanchester, Sam Eastes of WHS, Aidan Henson of East Clinton, Tyler Parks of WHS, John Stewart of WHS and Calvin Walls of WHS.
For the women, county products include Skye Carpenter of WHS, Savannah Rhodes of Blanchester and Jordan Snarr of WHS.
The women were ninth in the OAC in 2020 while the men finished sixth overall. Both teams earned to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team. In addition, Simon Heys was honored as an All-Academic individual.
The women’s team had three relay teams place in the OAC — 4-x-400-meter relay team of Emma Burke, Cheyenne Rhodes, Sidney Fields and Miranda Gibson took fourth with a time of 4:15.46, the same quartet in the 4-x-200-meter relay crossed the line sixth in 1:52.17, and the distance medley relay of Sidney Yontz, Burke, Katie Hughes and Milena Wahl sixth, turning in a time of 13:21.45. Kayli Sullivan was sixth in the weight throw, hurling a mark of 46-7.5.
On the men’s side in the OAC indoor meet, Jeff Clydesdale garnered All-OAC honors with a third-place finish in the high jump (1.88 meters). Colin Myers and Anthony Gilmore also scored, placing sixth and seventh in the event respectively. In the shot put, Blake Jamison’s heave of 14.79 meters earned him a sixth-place finish.
Two distance runners scored for Wilmington including Simon Heys’ fourth-place time of 8:47.91 in the 3,000-meter run. The freshman finished less than three seconds from All-OAC honors. Additionally, Taton Bertsch placed seventh in the 1,000-meter run by crossing the finish line in 2:35.66.
In relay events, the Quakers’ relay team of Bertsch, Aaron Koch, Josh Cyrus and Heys earned All-OAC honors in the distance medley relay to post the squad’s top relay finish (10:34.71). The 4-x-400-meter relay team of Koch, Bertsch, Clydesdale and Adam Knaub turned in a time of 3:35.73 to place one spot below the DMR team. Finally, Koch, Knaub, Gilmore teamed up with Max Queen to finish the 4-x-200-meter relay in eighth place (1:35.50).
The distance medley relay team of Bertsch, Koch, Cyrus and Heys placed third in 10:34.71.
In field events, WC had two individuals earn sixth-place finishes with Max Queen’s leap of 21-1.25 in the long jump and Joe Shuga’s heave of 49-7.25 in the weight throw.
