GRANVILLE, Ohio – Senior Isabelle Hoover's dominance against North Coast Athletic Conference rival Denison University continued on Thursday evening, and sophomore Will Callender scored a first-place finish in the annual dual meet against the Big Red. Denison won the men's race 22-37 and the women's 23-38.
Hoover's 20:41.5 broke the tape in the women's 5K, and she finished nearly :18 ahead of Denison senior Anna Lindower. The blue-ribbon effort marked Hoover's third in the Wooster-Denison cross country dual meet, and she won the women's race each time she competed in it during her career.
Callender, this week's NCAC Athlete of the Week following All-Ohio honors and a collegiate-best championship-length time of 25:27.9 at the All-Ohio Championships, went 16:46.6 to break the tape in the men's 5K race. He bested Denison sophomore Nathan Bertman by :26.2 on his way to his second collegiate cross country first-place finish.
Sophomore Dylan Kretchmar, who was making her season debut, bolstered Wooster's ranks with the fourth-place time of 22:26.9. Classmate Drew Robertson was Wooster's other top-five finisher, navigating the men's course in 17:22.5.
Sophomore Ben Nichols went 17:41.6, which was good for eighth-place in the men's race, while on the women's side, sophomore Julianna Fiori claimed top-10 honors with a time of 23:20.6.
Sophomores Elise Greenwald (24:48.9) and Bri Becerra (25:30.1) were next among Wooster's women, placing 14th and 15th, respectively. Seniors Kira Boyce and Ally Wells were right behind Becerra with times of 26:25.8 and 29:14.0, which were good for 16th- and 17th-place.
Junior Duncan Hardy took 14th and first-year Jack Schuller 16th to round out Wooster's men's top-five. Hardy crossed at 18:38.5 and Schuller stopped the watch at 18:45.5. Sophomore Eric Johnson and first-year Gustav Bourdon were in the top-seven among Wooster's entries with times of 19:05.7 and 19:13.8, respectively.
Next, Wooster is off to Muskingum University's Invitational on Saturday, October 1. The meet is set for an 11 a.m. start.