Ethan Rudawsky

Head coach Dennis Rice openly acknowledges that 2010 will be a rebuilding season for the tradition-rich College of Wooster men's cross country team. The Fighting Scots, who have 10 top-three finishes to their credit over the North Coast Athletic Conference's 26-year history, are without their No. 1, 2, and 3 runners, all of whom were seniors at last season's NCAC meet, and have just five returning letterwinners.

Instead of dwelling on the graduation losses, Rice is eager to see the competition within the team and thinks that will carry over into success later in the fall. "We don't have a clear-cut No. 1 … (nor) a clear-cut top-seven," he said. "(The lineup) could change-up week after week after week. It will be an exciting team … with a pretty good pack of guys challenging each other everyday in practice and at every meet."

Two candidates to be consistent forces are sophomore Kevin DeGroot and junior Ethan Rudawsky. They ran together at the league race a year ago, with DeGroot just a pace or two ahead in 61st (29:09.1) to Rudawsky's 62nd (29:11.5). At the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional Championships, Rudawsky outran DeGroot slightly as they took 144th (28:28.7) and 176th (29:13.7), respectively.

Also scoring for Wooster at the regional meet was now-junior John Anderson, who came in a few steps behind DeGroot in 184th (29:25.5), and continuing to gain "big-meet experience" at both of those races was fellow junior Micah Caunter. In 2008, Caunter was the Scots' third finisher at NCAC's and regionals, while other veterans with the potential to become regular scorers include junior Casey Green and sophomores Gus Fuguitt, who earned a varsity letter last fall, Ethan Casey, and Sam Swartz.

Seven freshmen dot the roster, and Rice looks forward to their growth as well as the entire squad's progress. "We are definitely rebuilding," he summed up. "We've got a good group of younger guys who still need development. We'll get better throughout the season."