Scot Harriers Part of Season-Opening Denison Classic

For The Week Of:
August 28, 2006

Written by Hugh Howard
330-263-2374
Email Story

Katie Wieferich

The College of Wooster cross country teams will ease into their competitive season at the three-team Denison University Fall Classic this Friday, Sept. 1. The event will feature four races, a women’s 3K beginning at 6:15 p.m., a men’s 3K at 6:30 p.m., a women’s 5K at 6:45 p.m., and a men’s 5K at 7:15 p.m., with squads from host Denison, Kenyon College, and Wooster.

Men’s 2006 Preview Notes: After losing their top-two runners to graduation, the Scots are in a bit of a transition season, however, two solid recruiting years should bring the program back to one of the best in the highly-competitive North Coast Athletic Conference. Wooster has finished among the top-three of the NCAC 10 times in the league’s 22-year history ... The frontrunners in 2006 could be all underclassmen. Now-sophomores Michael Cynkar (Portland, Ore. / Grant), Mark DeWine (Annandale, Va. / Bishop Denis J. O’Connell), Bryan Loy (Oxford, Ohio / Talawanda), Erik Ramstad (Haddonfield, N.J. / Haddonfield Memorial), and Paul Thompson (Oberlin, Ohio / Oberlin) were regulars in the lineup last season and look to be consistent scorers this fall. Loy was the only one to score at both NCAC’s and regionals as a freshman, coming in 52nd and 146th, respectively, while also gaining big-meet experience were DeWine and Thompson ... Not to be overlooked by the sophomore class or the nine freshmen, highlighted by twins Rick and Terry Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain), are returning letterwinners Rudy Gilman (Silverton, Ore. / Silverton Union), Colin Haverkamp (New Brighton, Minn. / Irondale), Nathan Malcomb (Marietta, Ohio / Marietta), Zac Patterson (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington), and Mark Wellons (Charleston, W. Va. / George Washington). Gilman and Haverkamp lead that group after both came on strong at the end of 2005, with Gilman being Wooster’s third finisher at NCAC’s (46th overall) and Haverkamp was the Scots’ No. 3 at regionals (143rd).

Women’s 2006 Preview Notes: Wooster head coach Dennis Rice always emphasizes the team concept in cross country, but in 2006, there is an individual student-athlete who will likely stand out among both her Fighting Scot teammates and fellow competitors at every meet. Senior Katie Wieferich (Marietta, Ohio / Marietta) is simply one of the top distance runners in NCAA Div. III, having proven that last season with a pair of All-American honors in track as well as sweeping the North Coast Athletic Conference Runner-of-the-Year awards in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track. Wieferich still has some unfinished business, though, especially when it comes to cross country. Last fall, she won five meets, including the conference title by 38 seconds, and advanced to the NCAA Championships after taking third out of a field of 222 at the Great Lakes Regional. Poised for a top-25 national finish, Wieferich came back from a training run limping six days before the race. She still competed, placing 54th with the injury, and if she stays healthy this season, Rice thinks she can finish among the top-10 harriers in Div. III ... Most of the core runners from the rest of the squad return, too. Junior Cara Stoddard (Rockford, Mich. / Rockford), junior Nicole Calderone (Grass Lake, Mich. / Greenhills School), senior Emily Rackley (Beaver, Pa. / Beaver Area), and junior Erin Fortin (Fernandina Beach, Fla. / Neuqua Valley – Ill.) scored at NCAC’s and Calderone, senior Ashley Zervos (Wheeling, W. Va. / The Linsly School), Rackley, and Fortin rounded out Wooster’s top-five at regionals. Noteworthy, Calderone has finished in the top-half of the Great Lakes twice in her career (91st in 2004, 92nd in 2005), while Stoddard, Calderone, and Rackley were all top-40 within the conference last fall.