2008 Men's Cross Country Season Outlook

Talented, Veteran Wooster Team Looks to Regain Status as One of NCAC's Best

Terry Workman is one of Wooster's top returnees.

Five of the top-seven harriers from last fall’s men’s team return for The College of Wooster, plus senior Mark DeWine who was the top distance runner on the track team this past spring, giving the Fighting Scots a great deal of optimism for the 2008 season. Though coming off of a seventh-place performance in the highly-challenging North Coast Athletic Conference, Wooster has traditionally been one of the league’s finest cross country squads via 10 top-three finishes over a 24-year history.

Head coach Dennis Rice expects DeWine, along with junior twins Rick Workman and Terry Workman, to form a strong 1-2-3 combo. DeWine, consistently the team’s second or third finisher at races as a sophomore, missed the NCAC and regional “championship” meets last fall due to injury, then bounced back with a standout track season, capped by placing fourth in the conference in the 10,000 meters (33:26.99). The Workman brothers were the Scots’ No. 2 and No. 3 runners a year ago, with Rick taking 32nd (27:20) and Terry 39th (27:30) at the NCAC Championships.

“I’m very confident about our top-three. They will all have the opportunity to challenge for all-conference honors (top-21 at the NCAC meet),” stated Rice. “The key to our success will be developing four, five, six, and seven runners.”

There are a number of student-athletes looking to fill those roles, including seniors Michael Cynkar, Bryan Loy, Erik Ramstad, and Paul Thompson, junior Zane Shetler, and sophomore Eric Stein. Loy, who will be a tri-captain along with DeWine and Ramstad, produced 47th- (28:05) and 172nd-place efforts (28:05) at the 2007 NCAC and NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional meets, respectively, while Shetler and Thompson also contributed to those teams.

Rice also noted that there is a “solid group of first-years who could contribute, depending on how they progress.” Headlining the group are John Anderson, Micah Caunter, and Ethan Rudawsky.

If Wooster’s top-three can stay healthy and some mix of the returning veterans and newcomers develop, the Scots have the potential to be a force within the NCAC again.

“Our team goal is to make improvements,” remarked Rice. “We want to challenge the top teams in the conference. A lot of teams will be pretty equal, so it’s going to be challenging.”