By Andrew Bell
Staff Writer
Last week, the Fighting Scots traveled to Cedarville University to compete in the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Challenge. The statewide cross country event hosts colleges from all divisions. Wooster, Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan represented the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) in both the men’s and women’s events. These 3 schools were joined by 12 other institutions from the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The women’s event kicked off the evening. The Scots were led by Reeve Helvoigt ’27 who finished with a time of 25:26.8. Her time ranked within the top 7 of NCAC teams, and in 36th place overall. Helvoigt was followed by Eilidh Horn ’28 with a time of 25:53.2. Her effort allowed Wooster to have 2 runners within the top 50.
“I never thought I would run collegiately, so having the opportunity to run in one of the largest meets in Ohio was honestly surreal,” said Horn. “My dad drove three hours just to watch me run because he’s so proud of me with how far I’ve come. I didn’t start running until my junior year of high school, and I think if 16-year-old me could see how I’m doing now, she’d be amazed. I could barely run a mile and now I’m running 6 kilometers in 94 degree heat with some of my best friends. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Jessie Breth ’25 crossed the finish line only 4 seconds after Horn. Isabelle Dwyer ’25, Juliana Fiori ’25, Igna Mendez ’25 and Eva Bauman ’25 closed the top 7 finishers for the Scots. “Finishing was bittersweet, I’ll be honest. It’s definitely not my favorite course so part of me was really glad to be done racing there, but I also can’t help but want to race it again and find new ways to do it better,” said Dwyer. “Also the vibes at this meet are always really great, something special that I’ll definitely miss having with the team. I’m looking forward to soaking in all these last moments with the team, but doing my best to not get caught up in the fact that this is a season of ‘lasts’.”
The men’s event began soon after the conclusion of the women’s as the Scots continued to find success on the trail. Most notably, Will Callendar ’25 and Drew Robertson ’25 led the Scots, placing in the top 5 making Wooster the only school to have 2 runners in the top 5. Callendar and Robertson also were the leading runners for the NCAC with times of 25:51.0 and 25:51.1, respectively. The runners had top 20 times overall between all divisions, too.
“Finishing next to Will was awesome. We finished back to back last year at All-Ohio, conference and regionals, so the fact that it happened again was a very good sign for future races. We run very differently yet can still finish together,” said Robertson.
Wooster also had an additional runner finish within the top 50 with Ben Nichols ’25 shooting across the finish line. Nichols finished in 38th place with a time of 27:10.5. Eric Johnson’s ’25 27:55.0 and Joe Ahmann’s ’26 28:07.6 gave Wooster 2 more finishes within the top 75, finishing 69th and 75th, respectively. Basil Keck ’28 and Zane DeMercurio ’26 rounded out Wooster’s top 7 runners with times of 29:09.5 and 29:10.8 that placed them 114th and 116th in that order.
After an exciting Friday evening of running, the Scots found themselves sitting in the top 10 of both the men’s and women’s rankings. The women finished 7th overall, with a total score of 236. The Wooster women had a team time of 2:10.23 and an average time of 26:05. Their totals beat out former OAC rival Muskingum by 4 points. Meanwhile, the men were lifted into 5th place in their category. Wooster’s men scored a total of 143 points, finishing with a team time of 2:14.56. Both the men’s and women’s totals placed the Scots in 2nd among the other NCAC teams.
“This past meet was a tough one because of the heat but it’s a huge meet with really good energy. We had some great performances and are showing a lot of potential on both teams,” said Breth. “For the rest of the season, we just want to keep working on finding each other in races so we can pack up and push each other.”
Moving forward, the Scots will be traveling to Daniel Mullen Invitational at Muskingum University on Saturday Oct. 5.
