Roger An
Contributing Writer
The College of Wooster men’s and women’s cross country teams finished their regular season with a strong display at the annual Twilight 5K run at John P. Papp Stadium. With the boom of a cannon, the Scots started off their night under the stars and bright lights.
On the women’s side, Mackenzie Kellar ’18 contested for first place for most of the race and finished in third overall as the first finisher for the Scots with a time of 19:07.9. Emma Busch ’21 was the second finisher for the Scots, with a time of 19:29.3.
The rest of Wooster’s runners that placed in the top 25 were Zoe Covey ’21 at 19:46.7, Ashley Ferguson ’18, who finished 0.1 of a second after Covey, with a time of 19:46.8, and Cobi Warstler ’20, who was Wooster’s final top 25 finisher with a time of 20:03.3.
A women’s team captain, Ferguson, remarked, “We were really excited to see such a strong showing on Friday. There were some great performances all around, and many runners dropped insane amounts of time off their personal 5K records. Hosting a meet on the track always generates a lot of good support and the sense of community you feel out there is a great way to start to wrap up the season.”
For the men, 800-meter conference champion Brian Lief ’19 and his fellow all-conference cross country honoree Jackson Feinknopf ’19 gutted it out for first place.
Feinknopf led for the entire race by a wide margin, cutting inside and taking the lead from the get-go.
Towards the end, Lief started a kick that made up significant ground for the final two laps, making up significant ground, but failed to overtake Feinknopf, who crossed the line with a time of 15:37.6.
Matt Klonowski ’21 finished roughly 15 seconds later, with a time of 15:57.4, rounding out the Scot’s top three finishers. Captain Geoffrey Carney-Knisley ’18 finished in sixth place with a time of 16:11.2, and Miki Rae ’20 finished at 16:16.9.
Head Coach Dennis Rice commented, “This is a great night. No other school in the country does what we do on this night. It is something that everyone in the College community should come and watch. A great experience, and a great way to send us off to the regional championships.”
This weekend, the Scots are off to Delaware, Ohio, as they compete on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Division III NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships.