Anna Duke
Sports Editor The College of Wooster’s cross country team hit the ground running at its first invitational of the season. Despite the participation of six other teams in the non-scoring invitational, the men’s and the women’s teams showed their depth as each team had five runners place in the top 10 for the women’s 4K and men’s 5K.
“The first meet went well for us. It was a good opportunity to see how we stacked up against Oberlin, who is currently ranked fourth in the region,” said Derrick Marshall ’15. “We definitely showed we had the potential to beat them even with one of our best returning runners out due to illness.”
Joe David ’15 led the pack in the four-mile run for the men’s team with a third place finish and a time of 21:38. About 18 seconds later, teammate Blake Pecoraro ’17 came through the chute taking fourth place. Within 40 seconds of Pecoraro, six more Scots finished, taking seventh, eighth, 10th and 11th.
“The men’s team’s greatest strength is our depth,” said Marshall. “While we don’t have any clear number one, we have enough depth to put five to seven guys near the front of the pack at most meets.”
Leading the Scots in the women’s 4K was Kayla Zboran ’17, who placed fourth overall out of 52 runners in the meet with a time of 15:55. Rachelle Herrin ’15 came in fifth, a mere two seconds behind Zboran. Over a span of 17 seconds, three more Wooster Scots came through the finish to take seventh, ninth and 10th, including Gabrielle Neubauer ’18 and Mackenzie Kellar ’18. In the 5K, Lauren Buyan represented the Scots and placed fourth overall with a time of 20:22.
“It was hot and the course was hilly, but everyone ran their best, especially since it was our opening meet of the season,” explained Herrin, a team captain. “Already everyone has shown their enthusiasm to put the time and effort into training, staying healthy and improving over this season.”
The Scots will be competing in the Greater Lakes College Association Championships on Sept. 6 in Delaware, Ohio.