The College of Wooster kicked off the 2010 NCAA Great Lakes Region cross-country season last Wednesday as the College hosted an array of teams from Northern Ohio. The schools in attendance included Baldwin Wallace College, Hiram College, Lorain Community College, and Oberlin College.
The meet featured four different events including a 4k race for women, a 5k race for women, a 5k race for men, and a four-mile race for men.
The Wooster women are led once again this season by head coach Dennis Rice who is looking to build on a program that has won four North Coast Athletic Conference team titles. Last season the Wooster women managed to move up to spots in the conference standings, eventually working their way to a fifth-place ranking.
At the Wooster Invitational on Wednesday they were led by all-conference standout Sarah Appleton ’12, who started off her season with an impressive fifth-place finish in the Women’s 5k with a time of 20:54.0.
The Scots also rounded off the top ten in the Women’s 5k as Erin Plews-Ogan ’13, Meredith Shaul ’12 and Colleen O’Neil ’13 finished in eighth, ninth, and tenth place with times of 21:06.1, 21:13.3, and 21:40.5 respectively. Monica Ramstad led the female Scots in the 4k race with a 12th-place finish and a time of 16:45.7.
As for the men, their season is expected to be a rebuilding year as their number one, two and three runners all graduated at the end of last year. This year the team will be led by Ethan Rudawsky ’12 and Kevin DeGroot ’13, both of whom have had success in previous years as members of the Fighting Scot cross-country team.
In addition to the more experienced members of the team, the Wooster Scots will also feature seven freshmen who hope to make their mark on the College’s cross-country program.
The men also started off the season with impressive performances from three top-ten finishers in the men’s four mile race. Rudawsky ’13, who finished in 7th place with a time of 22:19.3, led the Fighting Scots. While DeGroot ’13 and Luke Hutchings-Goetz ë14 finished in eighth and ninth place with times of 22:33.1 and 22:36.4. Gabriel Abud ë14 led the Scots in the men’s 5k race with a time of 19:24.6. and a finish in the top 20.
Oberlin dominated the day however, with Yeomen and Yeowomen taking first place in the women’s 4k, men’s 5k and men’s 4-mile run. Kimberly Chin ’11 managed to upset an Oberlin sweep by giving Baldwin-Wallace College their only first place finish of the day.
In addition to these first place finishes Oberlin also managed to claim all top three spots in the Women’s 4k race and the men’s 5k race.
Tomorrow the Fighting Scots will travel to Ohio Wesleyan University for the 2010 Great Lakes Colleges Association Men’s &Women’s Cross Country Championships.