Luke Hutchings-Goetz

Blake Pecoraro

Behind all-region runs by senior Luke Hutchings-Goetz and freshman Blake Pecoraro, The College of Wooster men's cross country team finished in fifth-place, while the Fighting Scot women were among the top half, 19th of 39-team field, at the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional Championships, held Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Wooster's performance marked its eighth top-10 finish at NCAA regionals all-time, and it was a 12-spot improvement over last year. Running in one of the toughest regions in the country, the Fighting Scots scored 210 points, with the only teams ahead of them being No. 20 ranked Wabash College (60) and No. 18 Calvin College (79) and Manchester University (109) and the University of Mount Union (137), both in the others receiving votes category of the national poll.

A big-meet performer throughout his career, Hutchings-Goetz earned his third all-region honor by covering the 8K course in 25:52.9, good for a 22nd-place finish out of the 252 competitors. Pecoraro crossed less than five seconds later (25:57.5) in 26th-place.

Turning in strong top-40 efforts were freshman Alex Chabraja and senior Morgan Clark, who hit the line in 38th (26:09.8) and 39th (26:10.6), respectively, while Wooster's fifth scorer was junior Derrick Marshall, who ran 86th (26:59.8).

In the women's meet, the Scots had a pair of top-100 finishers – first-year Kayla Zboran and junior Lauren Buyan. Zboran paced the team with a 76th-place as she traveled the 6K in a 23:41.1 time, with Buyan close behind in 90th (23:56.6).

There was a pack of Wooster runners another 30 seconds back, with first-year Emily Reid, senior Christina Haupt, and senior Ann Berkow finishing 116th (24:26.2), 121st (24:38.2), and 126th (24:43.8), respectively.

While Wooster's season has come to an end for the women, who return their top-three runners next year, the Scots have some hope for an individual invitation on the men's side, and possibly the team, to next week's NCAA Div. III Championships. The NCAA will officially announce the fields on Sunday.