The Wooster Fighting Scots cross country team kicked off the 2008 season with the annual Wooster Invitational. The Scots hosted the event this past friday at the L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course.

Four schools, Kenyon College, Edinboro University, Hiram College and Lake Erie College, were invited to the Wooster Invitational. For the women’s teams, Kenyon led the way with 32 points, while Edinboro came in second with 37.

The Fighting Scots ended up coming in a close third with 39 points. Hiram finished with 116 and Lake Erie College did not even have enough runners to place a team score.

Suzanne Capehart ’11 picked up this season right where she left off last season. The returning sophomore finished the meet seventh overall with a time of 16:27.

Capehart’s first-year teammate, Sarah Appleton ’12, placed eighth overall with an identical time to Capehart on the 4K course in her first collegiate meet.

The men’s competition played out differently. Edinboro dominated the meet, taking the top five individual spots. Kenyon came in second with 50 points followed by Wooster with 74 points. Hiram finished with 118 points, followed by yet another last place finish by Lake Erie.

For the Fighting Scots, top returner Terry Workman ’10 finished seventh overall with a time of 21:18 in the men’s 6K. Other top runners for Wooster were Mark DeWine ’09, who finished in 13th with a time of 21:52.

Rick Workman ’10 came in 18th with a time of 22:21. These three are anticipated to finish 1-2-3 consistently throughout the season.

The next meet for the men and women’s cross country teams comes in the Walsh Invitational on Sept. 13.

After the Walsh Invitational, in two weeks subsequently the team runs in the Otterbein Invitational on Sept. 27.

The next opportunity to catch the Scots at home comes at the Wooster Relays on Oct. 22. The all-important North Coast Athletic Conference Championships come on Nov. 1. The NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships take place Nov. 15.