The College of Wooster cross country teams competed in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday and accumulated three individual All-Region honors in Will Callender, Drew Robertson and Dylan Kretchmar.
Both teams saw improvement from last year. The men finished 17th, up from a 24th place showing a year ago. The women took 20th raising from its 28th place finish.
On the men's side, Callender and Robertson finished in 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Callender started strong, running 10th after the 2k and climbed to seventh at the 5k mark. Unfortunately, he fell 12 spots after reaching the 7K mark of the race but his time of 24:31.33 and placement were still good enough for All-Region.
Compared to last year when he was Wooster's lone All-Region runner, Callender finished in a time of 25:00.7 for 30th.
Robertson took the opposite approach of Callender, running 35th through the first two marks before climbing 12 spots at the 7K mark. He finished in 24:31.79 and improved from a 137th finish from last year.
Junior Eric Johnson was Wooster's next best runner. He was consistent in his day, finishing just outside the top 100 with a time of 22:58.32 for 105th.
Junior Ben Nichols (117th, 25:51.30) and sophomore Joe Ahmann (206th, 27:45.66) wrapped up the top five for the men.
On the women's side, Kretchmar finished 27th (21:36.6). Kretchmar reached as high as 10th at the 5K mark after being in 36th at the 2K mark.
The junior gave Wooster its first All-Region runner since 2019.
Senior Athena Tharenos finished in 100th at 23:09.9 in her return to the race after missing last year due to studying abroad.
Jessie Breth finished 154th with a time of 24:00.4. Zanna Anderson came in 186th (24:50.1) and Reeve Helvoigt finished right behind in 187th (24:54.4) to round out the women's scoring.
Calvin College won the tiebreaker over DePauw University to win the women's event. John Carroll University won on the men's side.
The top seven individuals not on the team champion roster automatically move on to the NCAA Div. III Championships, hosted at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa. on Nov. 18. Other invitees will hear once all 22 at-large teams are announced.