New course record set at Twilight 5K Challenge

Julie Kendall

Sports Editor

The cross-country teams hosted their fourth and final race of the season last Friday, as teams from Wooster, Hiram College and Grove City College competed in the Twilight 5K Challenge. The annual event, which took place at Wooster’s outdoor track, is the only race that takes place during the evening.

Although the event was non-scoring, the Fighting Scots dominated in both the men’s and women’s fields. Six men and seven women placed in the top ten for their respective races, highlighted by a record-breaking performance from the men’s champion, Luke Hutchings-Goetz ’14. Finishing the 5K course with a time of 15:12, Hutchings-Goetz was 11 seconds faster than the record he set last year.

Kevin DeGroot ’13 crossed the line in 15:41 to take second, and was closely followed by the third-place finisher, teammate Morgan Clark ’14 (15:42). Three other Scots cracked the top 10, in a field of 37. Coming in fifth place was Derrick Marshall ’15 (16:14), followed by Sam Swartz ’13 in seventh (16:20) and Gabriel Abud ’14 in ninth (16:41).

Wooster runners also took the top two spots in the women’s competition, and gave the Scots  five additional top 10 finishes. Erin Plews-Ogan ’13 took the championship title with a time of 18:36, nearly forty seconds ahead of second place finisher, Lauren Buyan ’15 (19:14).

Chelsea Denlinger ’14 (19:31), Monica Ramstad ’13 (19:35) and Erin Andrews-Sharer ’15 (19:41) followed in a close pack to go fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Rounding out the field was Allison Chin ’15, who finished in eighth (19:47), and Colleen O’Neil ’13 in 10th (20:00).

The previous weekend, Hutchings-Goetz and Plews-Ogan both received second-team all-conference honors at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship meet, held at the College’s L.C. Memorial Golf Course. It was the second career award for Plews-Ogan, who finished in 10th place in the women’s 6K with a time of 23:47.4. Hutchings-Goetz earned ninth place overall in the men’s 8K race with a time of 26:54.9. Both Wooster’s men’s and women’s teams finished seventh in the overall standings.

The Scots travel to Anderson University in Anderson, Ind. this weekend to compete in the NCAA Division III Great Lake Regional Championships. Hutchings-Goetz will look to repeat last year’s performance, which earned him all-region status.