Scots Hosting Wooster Invitational to Kickoff Season

Suzanne Capehart

 The College of Wooster cross country teams will make their 2008 debut by hosting the Wooster Invitational this Friday, Aug. 29, at the L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course on campus. It will be a team-scored event, featuring Edinboro University, Hiram College, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, and the host Fighting Scots. The women’s meet is a 4,000-meter race, starting at 6 p.m., followed by the men’s event, a 6,200-meter run, at 6:30 p.m.

Men’s 2008 Preview Notes: Five of the top-seven harriers from last fall’s team return for Wooster, plus senior Mark DeWine (Cedarville, Ohio / Bishop O’Connell – Va.) who was the top distance runner on the track team this past spring, giving the 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 squads via 10 top-three finishes over a 24-year history ... DeWine, along with junior twins Rick Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain) and Terry Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain), are expected to form a strong 1-2-3 combo. DeWine, consistently the team’s second or third finisher at races as a sophomore, missed most of 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 ... There are a number of student-athletes looking to fill the Nos. 4-7 roles, including seniors Michael Cynkar (Portland, Ore. / Grant), Bryan Loy (Oxford, Ohio / Talawanda), Erik Ramstad (Haddonfield, N.J. / Haddonfield Memorial), and Paul Thompson (Oberlin, Ohio / Oberlin), junior Zane Shetler (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover), and sophomore Eric Stein (Kent, Ohio / Theodore Roosevelt). 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. Headlining the first-years are John Anderson (Madison, N.J. / Madison), Micah Caunter (Mayfield Village, Ohio / Mayfield), and Ethan Rudawsky (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster).

Women’s 2008 Preview Notes: After a rebuilding season, in which three of the top-five runners were first-years, Wooster now aims to build on that experience and continue its tradition as one of the top squads in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Scots have won the third-most NCAC crowns (four) over the history of the league ... Wooster has been home to a long line of individual standouts and sophomore Suzanne Capehart (Herndon, Va. / Oakton) appears ready to carry on that torch. Capehart was the Scots’ top finisher at every meet last fall, highlighted by a 16th-place showing (23:50) at the conference championships, good for honorable mention on the All-NCAC Team ... Looking to resume their development following productive rookie campaigns are Jessica Yarmosky (Pittsfield, Mass. / Monument Mountain) and Chelsea Fisher (Metuchen, N.J. / Metuchen), as they both scored at the NCAC’s and NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional Championships. Yarmosky finished 36th (25:02) and 145th (25:21) in those respective races and Fisher was 42nd (25:42) and 150th (25:29) ... While Wooster will still be very young in 2008, witness just four seniors and two juniors among its 20 team members, some veterans may be counted on to be regular contributors. Emily Elderbrock (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland), Anna Gil (San Francisco, Calif. / Lick-Wilmerding), and Becca Thomas (Elyria, Ohio / Elyria) are senior tri-captains, with Elderbrock having been just out of the scoring at last fall’s regional (26:04), and junior Caitlin O’Riordan (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Chagrin Falls) has been part of the Scots’ conference and regional teams her first two years ... In addition to the trio of Capehart, Yarmosky, and Fisher, a number of other sophomores could make an impact, including Dana Culbert (Fremont, Ohio / St. Joseph Central Catholic), Sara Falkoff (Westerville, Ohio / Westerville North), and Whitney Rappole (Bemus Point, N.Y. / Maple Grove).