CEDARVILLE, Ohio – Sophomore Will Callender earned All-Ohio honors, as The College of Wooster cross country team raced under the lights at the All-Ohio Championships, which were hosted by Cedarville University at Elvin R. King Cross Country Course on Friday evening. Wooster's men took 10th among 13 NCAA Div. III programs, and the women were 12th of 14 Div. III programs.
Callender, now a two-time All-Ohio performer, navigated the championship-length course in 25:27.9, which was 36th across all divisions of Ohio collegiate cross country. Within Div. III, Callender ranked ninth. He was previously an All-Ohio performer in the 5,000 meters this past spring.
Sophomore Ben Nichols just missed on All-Ohio honors. The 21st-place Div. III finisher was 86th overall with a time of 26:22.7. Classmate Drew Robertson was Wooster's No. 3 on the night, covering the course in 28:01.2, the 214th-best time.
Junior Duncan Hardy (280th, 28:53.1), sophomore Eric Johnson (295th, 29:00.3), first-year Jack Schuller (299th, 29:05.0), and first-year Joe Ahmann (322nd, 29:26.0) comprised the remaining finishers within Wooster's top seven.
Wooster's women were led by sophomore Jessie Breth, who came in at 21:28.7, which was 197th in the combined-divisions' race. Friday night featured an all-sophomore top-six for the Scots, with Igna Mendez (209th, 21:42.4), Julianna Fiori (224th, 21:54.5), Eva Bauman (230th, 22:02.9), Elise Greenwald (268th, 23:02.0), and Bri Becerra (301st, 24:37.2) coming in behind Breth.
Senior Kira Boyce (303rd, 24:41.4) was Wooster's seventh harrier across the finish.
Walsh University claimed the overall men's championship. Otterbein University won among Div. III men's programs. Walsh's Zach Kreft led the field with a time of 24:19.8, and Wilmington College's Simon Heys (24:22.9) was first across among Div. III harriers.
Cedarville was the overall women's champion. John Carroll University earned top billing among the 14 Div. III teams in the meet. Cedarville's Alayna Ackley broke the tape at 17:38.9. Baldwin Wallace University's Hope Murphy crossed at 18:06.9 to lead Div. III runners.
Next, Wooster and Denison University tangle for their annual dual meet. Denison is hosting this year's clash on September 22 with the meet set to start at 6 p.m.
Photo by Anna Russell '23