The Fighting Scots men and women’s cross country teams participated in their annual dual meet against Denison University this past Thursday. Unlike most competitions which see a number of teams duking it out on the same course, the Denison Dual Meet focuses only on the rivalry between the Scots and the Big Red as the two teams compete in a head-to-head clash for supremacy. While the rivalry yields a “friendly, yet competitive” tone according to Duncan Miller ’26, the Scots hoped to get one over on Denison.
The meet was held at Wooster’s L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course, a course known for its infamously strenuous hills. One such hill, dubbed “Big Kahuna,” is the course’s longest obstacle and appears near the end of its runtime, testing the runners’ endurance as they give a final push towards the finish. Miller said the hills “make or break a runner’s performance, those who are able to get up in a timely manner will likely finish ahead of those who can’t.” This assessment was followed by Nick Schade ’27 who exclaimed, “I definitely need to train more on hills this coming week, I was really tired going up Big Kahuna!” Despite the course’s immense difficulty, both teams managed strong performances with highlights on each side.
The women’s race kicked off at 6 p.m. and yielded an astonishingly similar score line of 29-26 that saw Wooster fall just short of the Big Red. Despite the result, the Scots put up a number of strong performances that saw Dylan Kretchmar ’25 net a first place finish with a time of 20:23.2, surpassing Denison’s second place finisher by over 36 seconds. Next up was Jessie Breth ’25 who managed a strong fourth place finish with a time of 21:39.1, followed by Amy Gabrovsek ’26 who had a successful debut race, coming in seventh with a time of 23:07.1. Zanna Anderson ’27 placed eighth with a time of 23:15.9 and Isabelle Dwyer ’25 rounded out the top ten with a time of 23:21.1.
The men’s race began shortly after the women’s ended and saw the Big Red triumph 38-22 with Denison’s Noah Cyr ’26 setting a new course record of 15:53.5, toppling the previous record of 16:01.9. Despite the result, the Fighting Scots fought back with a number of strong performances such as Drew Robertson ’25 who placed second and set a school record of 15:54.5. Will Callender ’25 was next in line for the Scots — finishing fourth with a time of 16:43.8 — before Eric Johnson ’25 rounded out the top ten with a time of 17:07.8 that earned him ninth place. Outside the top ten, Joe Ahmann ’26 and Zane DeMercurio ’26 put points on the board with times of 17:48.3 and 18:04.8 that placed them 12th and 15th respectively.
While the day ended up predominantly Red, many Wooster participants expressed a positive assessment of the team’s performance such as Luke Woodfill ’26 who stated, “I think everybody did a great job; the team definitely has a lot of potential. I’m excited to see what everyone will do in the weeks to come!” This hopeful sentiment was followed up by Schade who stated, “It was a tough meet for Wooster; however, I think we did good for where we are ability wise at the moment — I’m looking forward to our upcoming meets!”
The Fighting Scots looks to continue their conquest on Saturday, Sept. 30 as they travel to New Concord, Ohio to participate in the Muskingum Invitational.
