2007 Men's Cross Country Season Outlook

Veteran Scots Ready to Stride Toward Improvement in 2007

Mark DeWine is one of the Scots' top returnees.

Following a rebuilding season, a more experienced College of Wooster men’s cross country team will take to the course in 2007 with aspirations of returning to its status as one of the top contenders in the highly-competitive North Coast Athletic Conference. Wooster has finished among the top-three of the NCAC 10 times in the league’s 23-year history, but is coming off an eighth-place showing.

Five of the Fighting Scots’ top-six runners from a year ago are back in senior Rudy Gilman, juniors Mark DeWine and Paul Thompson, and sophomore twins Rick and Terry Workman, and now with an extra season of experience, 19th-year head coach Dennis Rice thinks they can “make a big jump in their racing capabilities.”

Gilman was Wooster’s No. 1 harrier for the first time in his career last fall, highlighted by receiving honorable mention on the all-conference team via a 19th-place performance at the NCAC meet when he ran 28:26 over the 8K course in Richmond, Ind. He also nearly posted an individual top-50 effort at the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional, coming in 52nd (27:10.7).

DeWine consistently scored as the Scots’ second or third finisher at races last season, including 36th- and 129th-place runs at the NCAC Championships (29:13) and regional (28:30.2), respectively. Thompson was not far behind during the conference meet, taking 52nd overall (30:11), while fellow junior Bryan Loy looks to revert to his freshman form when he produced team points at both the NCAC and NCAA Great Lakes Regional.

In addition to Gilman and DeWine, Terry Workman finished among Wooster’s top-five at the season-ending competitions, earning 54th in the league (30:13) and 158th in the region (29:01.7) during his debut. Rick Workman was just seconds behind his brother at the NCAA Great Lakes race, crossing in 164th (29:15.9).

Rice noted several other veterans could become regular contributors this year, including seniors      Colin Haverkamp, Zac Patterson, and Mark Wellons, junior Erik Ramstad, and sophomores Jeff Jacobs, Alex Jue, and Zane Shetler, all of whom are returning letterwinners. Also, Will Christiansen and Eric Stein headline the freshmen class, and have the potential to crack the top-seven of the Scots’ lineup.

“We have a nice core group of guys returning,” summed up Rice. “How successful we are depends on how the key guys develop. We’re capable of challenging top teams in the conference, but we have some work to do.”