The Fighting Scots men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Wilmington College on Friday, Oct. 13, to participate in the annual Jenna Strong Invitational. Following a rejuvenating Fall Break, the team trained relentlessly after returning in an effort to reclaim fitness and see positive results against their competitors. The meet yielded a large turnout, with 29 teams competing on the women’s side and 27 on the men’s. Despite the large pool of contention, including many Division II opponents, the Scots fought hard and found success with both teams in this final clash before the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships.
The meet included over 300 individual competitors in the men’s race, over 200 in the women’s, and was run on a course known for its notoriously difficult obstacles, leaving many runners fatigued at the competition’s pure density. As Luke Woodfill ’26 stated, “it can be discouraging when you get passed in a meet with as many people as there were; you just have to run your own race and do what you can.” This sentiment was echoed by Nick Schade ’27, who said that “the hardest part of the race was the wooded section from mile three to four,” because of “how many roots and ditches I had to jump over.” Despite the course’s cruelty, Wooster came together and pushed through in a remarkable effort that saw highlights on each side, leaving Woodfill to describe the meet as “a great team performance.”
The women’s competition began in the early afternoon and yielded much success for Wooster, as two Scots crossed the finish line in a top 10 position. Dylan Kretchmar ’25 led the women with a sixth place finish in her best performance of the year and was closely followed by Athena Tharenos ’24 in eighth with times of 19:20.23 and 19:29.27 respectively. Outside the top 10, Jessie Breth ’25 finished 39th with a time of 20:41.06, Zanna Anderson ’27 placed 80th with a time of 21:36.06 and Reeve Helvoigt ’27 rounded off the scoring participants with a 96th place finish and time of 21:55.66.
The men’s race began shortly after the women’s and saw many strong performances as Drew Robertson ’25 placed sixth with a time of 25:29.32 and Will Callender ’25 crossed the finish line shortly after with a time of 26:13.49, netting a respectable 23rd place finish. Three more runners placed points on the board for the Scots, with Eric Johnson ’25 placing 60th with a time of 27:19.62, Ben Nichols ’25 in 66th with a time of 27:27.54 and Joe Ahmann ’26 running a time of 28:28.74 for a 105th place finish.
By the day’s end, the men’s team finished eighth of 27 teams and the women placed sixth in a field of 29 teams. The teams’ strong performances served as a beacon of hope for next week’s NCAC Championships, bolstering morale. “Admittedly, I did not run great in our previous meet,” Jack Schuller ’26 said. “However, once the race started, I felt good and feel great about the performance overall.” This positive message was echoed by Woodfill who stated that “everybody was able to use the benefits of our training and we had a lot of great performances.” The top twelve runners on the Fighting Scots cross country teams will move onto the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships next Saturday.
The Fighting Scots look to continue their conquest as they travel to Granville, Ohio to compete in the NCAC Championships on Oct. 28th.
