Wooster XC Competes at Muskingum Invitational

Eliot Barrengos, Contributing Writer

Wooster’s Fighting Scots raced on Saturday morning, Oct. 1, in the Muskingum Invitational 8K race, held at Muskingum University.  Will Callender ’25 continued his strong fall season crossing the finish line in first place among all men’s runners with a time of 26 minutes and 54.6 seconds. In doing so, Callender beat out Heidelberg’s Sean Smith ’25 by nearly six seconds. His first-place finish helped the men’s team claim third place, in what was one of their better all-around races this season.

Callender was backed by strong performances from Drew Robertson ’25, who finished seventh overall, with a time of 28 minutes and 33.1 seconds, and Ben Nichols ’25, who claimed tenth place overall, with a time of 28 minutes and 50.1 seconds. Eric Johnson ’25 and Joe Ahmann ’26 finished off the scoring for the Scots on the scoreboard, finishing 22nd and 26th.

Wooster’s men’s team is pulling things into focus as the NCAC Championship meet approaches at the end of October. When asked about where the team stands with just one meet before the Championship, Callender said, “the team is finally starting to come together which is great to see.” He added that, “we are still in need of a bit more work to close the gaps in our top five, but there has been some great progress out of a lot of the guys.” Callender pointed specifically to the strides made by Wooster’s fourth and fifth finishers on Saturday saying, “I’m really impressed with the work that Joe Ahmann and Eric Johnson have put in over the last few weeks.”

For the women’s team, Saturday was not as smooth, as the Scots failed to place in the 6k race. The change in fall weather was a definite factor in what was a tough race for the women’s team. “It was the first race that felt like fall,” said Julianna Fiori ’25, “and it was rainy and muddy which was a complete 180 from our typical conditions.”  

But the Scots still delivered strong performances especially from their deep sophomore class, led by Jessie Berth ’25 who finished 11th out 30 in the individual results with a time of 27 minutes and 42.3 seconds. She was followed by Fiori placing 16th in 28 minutes and 25.0 and Isabelle Dwyer ’25 who placed 19th with a time of 28 minutes and 36.6 seconds.

The women’s team faces a tough moment in their season, as they have been struck as of late with sickness and injuries, putting further strain on what is already a small team. “We have had our fair share of setbacks in terms of injuries and sickness,” said Dwyer, “but everyone has continued to show up and bring their best, whatever that looks like for that day.” Dwyer expressed belief in the team heading into a crucial stretch of the season. “I am very confident that we will get back on our feet before the Conference.”

Fiori acknowledged that this was a tough moment in the fall season, but pointed to the upcoming fall break as a chance to regain footing.“ [We need to] not try to push ourselves when we are not physically there yet,” said Fiori “I hope that the small break from racing will reset us and get us ready and healthy for the Jenna Strong Invitational.” 

The Scots will compete again in the Jenna Strong Invitational on Friday, Oct. 14 in Wilmington, Ohio.