The College of Wooster cross country teams competed at Wilmington University's Jenna Strong Fall Classic on Friday in one last tune up before the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships.
 
The women, who finished 13th last year, improved to seventh of 17 teams, scoring 164 points, and were second amongst Division III teams. Hanover College scored 131 points for fifth.
 
Two NAIA programs finished atop the meet. Georgetown College (Ky.) won with 64 points and University of Rio Grande placed second with 92.
 
First-year Stella Anderson placed just outside the top 10 and fourth amongst Division III runners in 11th with a time of 19:52.5. The time bested her previous top time of 20:17.4, which she ran at Tiffin University on Sept. 11.
 
The top runner was unattached to a team in Shelby Nolan who ran an 18:53.9.
 
Fellow first-year Eloise Gravel gave Wooster its second-best time, running 20:43.7 for 34th. Wooster then had three runners inside the top 50 to round out its team scoring – senior Elise Wheeler (46th, 21:12.6), senior Reeve Helvoigt(49th, 21:18.9) and first-year Molly Noesen-Bosscher (50th, 21:19.8).
 
On the men's side, Wooster placed 11th of 18 teams with 262 points, which was fifth amongst Division III squads. The University of Findlay finished in first place with 43 points, finishing ahead of Rio Grande, who scored the same 43.
 
Junior Basil Keck was Wooster's fastest runner, finishing 41st in a time of 27:18.9. Classmate Grant Mentzer was the next best, finishing 65th in a time of 27:54.2.
 
Wooster's next three, to round out scoring, finished inside the top 100 – sophomore Max Kollhoff (87th, 28:38.5), first-year Gabe Coble (89th, 28:48.2) and junior Andrew Rombach (92nd, 28:49.7).
 
First-year Owen Neville did not score for the team but finished in 100th with a time of 28:59.8.
 
Next, Wooster will head to Oberlin to compete in the NCAC Championships on Oct. 31.