Scots Hosting Wooster Relays in Final Tune-Up Prior to NCAC’s

For The Week Of:
October 16, 2006

Written by Hugh Howard
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Ashley Zervos

In their final tune-up before the 23rd annual North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, The College of Wooster cross country teams will host the Wooster Relays Wednesday, Oct. 18. The annual meet, now in its seventh year, is a unique non-scoring event, with individuals from Fighting Scot head coach Dennis Riceês alma mater, Edinboro University, as well as his current Wooster squads and Otterbein College racing four different distances and then adding up their times for an individual finish. The women's race, which starts at 4:45 p.m., will consist of 2000 meters, 600 meters, 800 meters, and 1000 meters, with a seven-minute break between each, for a total of 4400 meters, while the men's portion is scheduled to begin 45 minutes later and will be a 6800-meter race with intervals of 2000, 1000, 800, and 3000 meters.

Last Meet: On Oct. 13, the Scots dominated their own Jim Bean Classic, as both the menês and womenês teams took home first-place honors. The Wooster men earned the minimum 15 points, well ahead of the rest of the field ® Hiram College (67), Lake Erie College (71), and Myers University (87). Woosterês womenês squad scored a total of 18 points in its field of three, also clearly ahead of Hiram (47) and Lake Erie (72).
Individually for the men, Dave Thomas (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) and Rudy Gilman (Silverton, Ore. / Silverton Union) crossed the line in the 5K race with identical times of 17:06, tying for first-place. Additionally, Zane Shelter (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover) and Mark DeWine (Annandale, Va. / Bishop Denis J. OêConnell) both finished in 17:27 to earn a third-place tie, while Jeff Jacobs (Wilmette, Ill. / New Trier Twp.) rounded out the Scotsê scoring with his fifth-place finish (17:34). Wooster not only swept the top-five, but took 19 of the top-20 places as a team.
On the womenês side, Ashley Zervos (Wheeling, W. Va. / Linsly School) won the 5K, cruising across the course in 20:31, and right behind was teammate Nicole Calderone (Grass Lake, Mich. / Greenhills School) with a time of 20:32 for second-place. Completing Woosterês scorers were Caitlin OêRiordan (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Chagrin Falls), Cara Stoddard (Rockford, Mich. / Rockford), and Sarah Lloyd (Mt. Vernon, Wash. / Mount Vernon), who finished fourth (21:16), fifth (21:22), and sixth (21:25), respectively.

NCAC Runner of the Week: For her efforts (see above), Scot senior Ashley Zervos (Wheeling, W. Va. / Linsly School) was named North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week for womenês cross country. It marks the first time in her career she has earned the weekly honor.