Scots Host a Meet, Following Wieferich’s All-Ohio Win

For The Week Of:
October 9, 2006

Written by Hugh Howard
330-263-2374
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Katie Wieferich

The College of Wooster men?s and women?s cross country teams will host the 3rd annual Jim Bean Twilight Invitational, honoring the former long-time coach of the Fighting Scots, this Friday, Oct. 13. This season?s event, which will take place at L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course, will be a scored meet among Hiram College, Lake Erie College, Myers University (men only), Ursuline College (women only), and Wooster. Both the men and women will run a 5K, starting at 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively. Last fall, the Jim Bean Twilight Invitational was just a dual, with Wooster defeating Hiram 15-50 (men) and 15-49 (women).

Last Meet: On Oct. 6, Wooster?s Katie Wieferich (Marietta, Ohio / Marietta) outraced 263 of the other top collegiate runners from across the Buckeye State, winning the women?s individual title at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships, a unique meet that annually brings together harriers from NCAA Div. I, II, and III as well as NAIA schools. Wieferich is not only Wooster?s first individual All-Ohio champion (the women?s meet has taken place every year since 1981 and the men?s since 1955), but she?s the first Div. III winner in the women?s division overall and the first non-Div. I winner since 2000 (Malone College).
Wieferich, who was the first Div. III runner to cross the finish line and ninth overall last year (18:38.8), cruised over the 5K course at the Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio, in 18:11.5, 13 seconds faster than her nearest competitor (18:24.1). The remaining top-eight finishers all hailed from Div. I schools, three from Ohio State University, two representing Bowling Green State University, and one each from the University of Akron and Ohio University.
The individual first-place effort from Wieferich boosted the Fighting Scots to a 20th-place showing out of 38 teams, including ninth of 17 in Div. III. Ohio University won the women?s championship and Case Western Reserve University took top honors among Div. III institutions.
Coming in the top-100 overall individually for Wooster was Nicole Calderone (Grass Lake, Mich. / Greenhills School), whose time of 20:26.9 was good for 98th-place and 31st among 115 Div. III runners. The Scots? other three scorers were Ashely Zervos (Wheeling, W. Va. / Linsly School), Caitlin O?Riordan (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Chagrin Falls), and Erin Fortin (Fernandina Beach, Fla. / Neuqua Valley ?N Ill.), who finished 38th (20:39.4), 58th (21:34.6), and 68th (21:49.4) in Div. III, respectively.
In the men?s race, Wooster came in 27th of 42 total teams, including 12th of 22 in Div. III, while Ohio State won the overall competition and Mt. Union College took the Div. III crown.
Individually, the Scots were paced by Rudy Gilman (Silverton, Ore. / Silverton Union), who was the 120th harrier to cross the line out of 278 after covering the 8K course in 28:18.1. That time was 43rd-best in Div. III. Running close behind Gilman was teammate Dave Thomas (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) in 56th (28:35.9), followed by Rick Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain) in 76th (29:04.8), Mark DeWine (Annandale, Va. / Bishop Denis J. O?Connell) in 84th (29:25.6), and Terry Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain) in 93rd (29:44.6).

NCAC Runner of the Week: For her efforts (see above), senior standout Katie Wieferich (Marietta, Ohio / Marietta) was named North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week for women?s cross country. It marks the second time this season she has earned the weekly honor.