By Ian Round | Staff Writer

Rain, snow, wind and cold temperatures March 29 ended the College of Wooster Invitational early and unscored after only nine events were held.

“It was worse than I expected,” Head Coach Duane Gomez said. “I’ve been coaching a long time, and this is the worst [weather] I’ve seen.”

With rain and temperatures hovering around 32 degrees, Gomez said that he would have preferred snow. He estimated half the events were cancelled, including the 5,000-meter, 200-meter, relays and steeplechase. The discus event was cancelled because the throwers’ hands had no dexterity due to the cold.

“You couldn’t do anything in it,” Gomez said. He urged the athletes to protect their bodies rather than attempt to achieve personal records.

The runners in the women’s 800-meter were on the starting line, waiting for the officials to make the decision before it was finally called off according to Gomez. “You just can’t stand there and freeze to death and not know what you’re gonna do,” he said.

The track itself was something of a “wind tunnel” because it was between a large hill and the bleachers of Wooster’s football stadium, causing the wind to blow faster in between.

Times in the 1,500-meter, where Kenyon had the most success, were more than 20 seconds slower than usual.

For the Ladies, Tory Bruch ’14, Mollie O’Leary ’17 and Kerry Strader ’14 placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the women’s 1,500-meter; Abby Arace ’16 and Gwendolyn Lloyd ’16 placed in the top ten.

For the Lords, Eric Engelbrecht ’14 won the men’s 1,500-meter in 4:15.82, and Sam Lagasse ’16 came in second, only a few seconds behind him.

Jackson Pine ’17 placed fourth in the javelin. Tanner Zaas ’15 and Ulises Arbelo ’16 placed fifth in the men’s 400-meter and 800-meter, respectively.

Both men’s and women’s teams run this Saturday, April 5 at the Marv Frye Invitational at Ohio Wesleyan University, and they can only hope the weather will be kind to them this time around.