Scots Hosting 24th Annual Wooster Invitational Saturday

Suzanne Capehart

The College of Wooster men’s and women’s cross country program will welcome a 10-team field to the L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course this Saturday, Sept. 22, for the annual Wooster Invitational. This marks the 24th running of the event, with harriers coming in from Ashland University, Case Western Reserve University, Cuyahoga Community College (women only), Hiram College, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Notre Dame College, Ursuline College (women only), and Walsh University to join the Fighting Scots this year. Since 1984, the Wooster men have finished first in the team standings on two occasions (1985, 1999) with two individual winners and the Scot women have four team titles (1985, 1993, 1995, 1996) and nine individual crowns. Action is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. with the women’s 5K race, followed by the men’s 8K at 11:45 a.m.

Last Meet: On Sept. 8, the Scots were at the Great Lakes Colleges Association Championships, where the men placed seventh and the women sixth in their respective nine- and eight-team fields.

Wabash College won the men’s championship with 63 points, while Wooster totaled 137, led by sophomore Terry Workman’s (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain) individual fifth-place finish. Workman covered the 8K race in 27:06.0, while twin brother Rick Workman (Hillsboro, Ohio / Greenfield McClain) was the next Scot harrier to cross the line and 17th overall (27:53.4). Senior Rudy Gilman (Silverton, Ore. / Silverton Union), junior Bryan Loy (Oxford, Ohio / Talawanda), and junior Mark DeWine (Cedarville, Ohio / Bishop O’Connell – Va.) took 21st (27:56.6), 48th (28:55.5), and 51st (29:03.1), respectively.    On the women’s side, the 5000-meter race that encircled Kenyon’s practice field was won by Oberlin College, which tallied 40 points. Wooster scored 164, while being paced by freshman Suzanne Capehart (Oak Hill, Va. / Oakton) for the second-straight week. She clocked in at 19:57.3 for a 12th-place showing, just 40.2 seconds behind the individual winner. The Scots’ Chelsea Fisher (Metuchen, N.J. / Metuchen) followed in her classmate’s strides capturing 34th (20:50.2), while seniors Erin Fortin (Fernandina Beach, Fla. / Neuqua Valley – Ill.) and Nicole Calderone (Grass Lake, Mich. / Greenhills School) were 37th (20:52.4) and 49th (21:21.1), respectively. Also, first-year Jess Yarmosky (Pittsfield, Mass. / Monument Mountain) rounded out Wooster’s top-five, crossing in 53rd-place (21:29.5).