Scots Off From Competition, Preparing for All-Ohio’s

Erin Fortin

After hosting the 24th annual Wooster Invitational, The College of Wooster cross country teams will be off from competition this week. Next, the Fighting Scot harriers will be in action on Friday, Oct. 5, at the annual All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championships, which brings together 40-plus NCAA Div. I, II, and III schools and NAIA institutions from across the Buckeye State for a meet at the Methodist Theological School in Delaware, Ohio. Last season, Wooster alum Katie Wieferich became the first in school history to win the women’s 5K race with a time of 18:11.5, leading the team to a 20th-place finish (9th of 17 in Div. III). The Scot men were 27th overall and 11th of 21 among Div. III schools.

Last Week: On Sept. 22, the 24th annual Wooster Invitational took place on campus at the L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course, and both of the Scots’ teams finished in fourth-place

In the 10-team women’s field, Wooster scored 129, while Case Western Reserve University swept the top-five individual positions for the minimum total (15), and thus, the championship. Also ahead of the Scots were Kenyon College (68) and NCAA Div. II Ashland University (69), while they edged out Walsh University (137) for fourth. The second half of the field was well behind.

Individually, freshman Suzanne Capehart (Oak Hill, Va. / Oakton) continued to lead the way, crossing the finish line 11th overall with a time of 20:24 on the challenging 5K course. Esther Erb of Case won individual honors (19:08), while also scoring for Wooster were senior Erin Fortin (Fernandina Beach, Fla. / Neuqua Valley – Ill.), senior Nicole Calderone (Grass Lake, Mich. / Greenhills School), freshman Chelsea Fisher (Metuchen, N.J. / Metuchen), and freshman Casey Henry (Louisville, Ky. / duPont Manual), who ran in a tight pack as they took 30th (21:47), 32nd (21:59), 33rd (22:00), and 36th (22:07), respectively.

On the men’s side, there were only six teams. Ashland earned the title with 23 points, followed by Case (43), Walsh (91), the Scots (107), Kenyon (126), and Notre Dame College (164).

Wooster’s highest finish of the day came from sophomore Terry Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain) in the men’s 8K race, as he ran 10th overall in a time of 27:45. The Spartans also brought the men’s top individual finisher back to Cleveland in the form of Dominic Smith, whose 26:27 mark was 26 seconds ahead of the runner-up. Senior Rudy Gilman (Silverton, Ore. / Silverton Union) in 19th (28:03), sophomore Rick Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain) in 28th (28:46), junior Bryan Loy (Oxford, Ohio / Talawanda) in 38th (29:25), and senior Colin Haverkamp (New Brighton, Minn. / Irondale) in 42nd (29:41) completed the Scots’ scorers.