Wooster Cross Country Invitational
Heading into the next weekend of the 2026 cross country season, 74 total teams are slated to compete at Wooster's annual Cross Country Invitational. Hosted every year at Wooster High School, the meet will feature six high school races: D1/2 Boys Varsity, D1/2 Girls Varsity, D1/2 Boys Open (10:05am), D1/2 Girls Open (10:35am), D3/4 Boys, and D3/4 Girls (11:45am). The Open races are for any team that exceeds 10 runners who will compete in the varsity race. Extra runners over 10 will compete in the Open. D3/4 teams are not capped, and will instead run their full team in the same race. The skies should be clear for all races, and the D1 and D2 runners will get to experience temps as low as 66° before temps rise to around 75° for the lower divisions. The course is known for flat, fast times, making two loops around the athletic facilities of the high school before finishing in an open field.
D1/2 Boys
The D1/2 Boys Varsity race will kick off the day at 9:00am. The lineup is looking good for all the races this year, but so far in the season, the top ranked athletes set to compete this weekend aren't touching last year's winning time of 14:49. Regardless, 5 boys in this race have already ran under 16 minutes for the season: Calvin Watson, Carter Schaubert, Samuel Baker, Wesley Nash, and Luca Novakovic. Of these five, two boys, Watson and Nash, originate from the same team, Thom. Worthington. Worthington placed third in their race last year at Wooster, and they will be looking for another award this year, with three boys (Watson, Nash, and Rishi Jha) ranked in the top 7 for season-bests coming into the meet.
D1/2 Girls
As for the D1/2 Girls (9:30am), we're looking for fast times on their side, too. The previous winning times for the D1 girls have typically been low to high 17s. Annalise Costin has already ran a 17:46 this season, and many other girls in the race have already gone sub-19. Makayla Martuccio and Katherine Schuler are returning from impressive performances last year and are expected to place well this year as well. Also, notably, current Bay sophomores Clare Messmore and Anika Schulz placed 12th and 14th their freshman year, and they're coming back for more. For both girls, the Wooster course is where they hold their PR, and this is true for quite a few athletes. PRs are sure to come to most runners competing this weekend!
D3/4 Boys
D3/4 Boys are going to see some very strong competition. The winning times for non D1 Boys have ranged from 15:40 to 16:12, and one runner in particular seems ready to beat that easily. Junior Brice Fuller of Fairless has run a 15:26 this season, with a career best of 14:49. Fuller ran at the NXN meet his sophomore year, placing 22nd in the nation. He was also the Ohio state champion, and finished 3rd at Wooster last year. Waynedale won their race at Wooster last year, but their team has undergone some change. Last year, many of their winning team were seniors or sophomores. Now, 5 of their team have graduated, and 8 of them remain. David Byler is one of the juniors, and he is ranked second going into the meet based off of season bests. Last week, he ran a 16:41 to place 4th at the Brian Armstrong Northwest Cross Country Invitational. Other notable entries for the D3/4 Boys are Conner Rhein (16:26) of Black River, Cade Conrad (16:34) of Tuscar. Valley, Micah Sparks (16:35) of Maplewood, and Logan Howard of Canton South (placing third last year with a 16:12, but has yet to race yet this year). The boys race at 11:10am.
D3/4 Girls
The D3/4 Girls will be intense! Running at 11:45am, the weather will be heating up. The entries for this meet are fast- the top two ranked runners are Ava Reiheld, and Iriel Mena, both from West Holmes. Mena was the 2025 Wooster Champion of her division with a time of 18:54. This year, she's headed into the meet with a season best of 19:18. Her teammate, Reiheld, is only a freshman, and has already ran 18:37 in the season and is ranked #1 for the D3/4 race. She dropped 50 seconds from her first meet and her second, and I'm sure more time will be dropped coming into her third. Ash. St. John also contains 2 runners ranked in the top 7 based on season bests. Marlee Beacom (19:32) and Emma Phillips (20:00) are ranked 3rd and 6th respectively. Due to the State meet being moved back a week in comparison to other years, the meet calendar changed too. With this change, teams may travel to meets they never have before, such as Wooster. This new competition will ensure fast times across all divisions and races.
Conclusion
Overall, the Wooster Invitational is certain to bring fast times as usual. With tough competition and a fast course, I expect to see quite a few boys under 16, and a couple girls under 18. Awards are given to the top 25 individuals in each race, and team trophies are awarded to top 3 teams in each division. The flat grassy course, while seeing lots of sun, will mean that with no hills or odd terrain, the competition will be solely based on fitness and mental capacity. Being early on into the season, athletes will likely see season or even career PRs, meaning that the race truly could be anybody's.
Sources
Athletic.net, MileSplit Ohio
