Freshman standout Sarah Appleton earned all-North Coast Athletic Conference status via a 20th-place run, highlighting The College of Wooster’s results at the NCAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Oberlin College. In the team standings, the Fighting Scots’ youthful women’s squad finished seventh overall and the men were eighth.

Nationally-ranked Kenyon College won the women’s title with 65 points, while No. 20 Allegheny College dominated the men’s field with four runners in the top-10 and 34 team points.

Appleton continued her solid first year, as she was Wooster’s top finisher for the third time this fall. She covered the 6000-meter course with a time of 23:18.6, good for honorable mention on the All-NCAC Team and less than 25 seconds from cracking the top-10 in her initial conference meet.

Not far behind was fellow underclassmen Suzanne Capehart, as Appleton’s sophomore teammate placed 37th in a time of 24:13.8. Senior Becca Thomas, senior Anna Gil, and freshman Meredith Shaul ran in a tight pack while also scoring points for the Scots, crossing in 46th (24:32.0), 52nd (24:39.8), and 53rd (24:43.3), respectively.

Wooster’s men’s squad, which was missing one of its top-three harriers due to a recent injury, featured senior Mark DeWine, who narrowly missed out on all-NCAC honors (top-21). He ran across the 8K terrain in 26:07.9, resulting in a 27th-place effort.

The rest of the Scots’ scorers were close together, led by Terry Workman. The junior took 51st overall (26:46.3), followed by freshman Micah Caunter in 67th (27:17.5), senior Paul Thompson in 70th (27:28.2), and freshman Jack Anderson in 73rd (27:31.9).

Wooster will close the 2008 campaign at the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional Championships, hosted by Otterbein College, in two weeks.