Head Coach Dennis Rice

Phone: (330) 263-2175
e-mail: drice@wooster.edu

For over two decades, head coach Dennis Rice has been behind the success of The College of Wooster’s men’s and women’s cross country and track & field programs. Now in his 19th year as head coach after serving four years as an assistant, Rice has developed a well-deserved reputation for his ability to train student-athletes to reach their full potential.

During his 22 years on the coaching staff, the Fighting Scots have won six North Coast Athletic Conference team championships in cross country, highlighted by three-straight for the women from 1996-98, and seven in track & field (four indoor, three outdoor). For his efforts, Rice has been recognized as the conference’s Coach of the Year four times in cross country and three times in track & field. He was also named the Ohio Div. III Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1996 after guiding the women’s team to a school-best 15th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Individually, 28 Scots have competed at the NCAA Championships in cross country (six men, 12 women) and track & field (two men, eight women) during Rice’s tenure. He’s helped produce a five-time All-American in distance specialist Katie Wieferich, who finished her Wooster career with two 3rd-place finishes in the 10,000 meters and a pair of top-five runs in the 5000 meters, as well as a pair of three-time All-Americans in Emily Moorefield and Reggie Ray. Moorefield, also a distance specialist, posted two top-20 showings at the national cross country meet and a 4th-place performance in the 1500 meters, while Ray, a sprinter, placed among the top-eight at NCAA’s in the 100 meters once and the 200 meters twice. In all, Scot individuals have been crowned conference champs 109 times in cross country/indoor and outdoor track & field combined, to go with 26 relay championships.

Along with the numerous athletic successes, Rice’s teams also excel in the classroom. Wooster’s student-athletes annually appear on the Cross Country Coaches Association and United States Track Coaches Association All-Academic Teams, and women’s cross country regularly finishes with the highest team GPA at the school each academic year.

A graduate of Edinboro University in northeast Pennsylvania, Rice was inducted into his alma mater’s athletic Hall of Fame after serving as a team captain in cross country and track and earning two All-American citations for one of NCAA Div. II’s premier running programs. He went on to serve as an assistant coach at Edinboro prior to coming to Wooster.