Wittenberg plays host to the 19th annual NCAC Men’s
and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Saturday at John
Bryan State Park near Yellow Springs. This will be the second race
this season that Wittenberg has hosted at picturesque John Bryan
State Park, following the successful Wittenberg Invitational on
September 7.
Nineteen teams will compete in the conference championship
meet, including men’s and women’s teams from member
schools Allegheny, Denison, Oberlin, Kenyon, Earlham, Wooster, Ohio
Wesleyan, Hiram and Wittenberg and the men’s team from
Wabash. Races start at 11 a.m. for the men, who run eight
kilometers, and noon for the women who run five kilometers. There
will be a presentation for the award winners at 1 p.m.
Kenyon won both the men’s and women’s team
competitions a year ago. In a preseason poll of the NCAC cross
country coaches, the Kenyon men were picked to repeat as champions,
while the women were predicted to finish in second behind the
coaches’ unanimous choice, Allegheny. The Gators were picked
to finish second in the men’s race, followed by Wooster and
Wabash. On the women’s side, Denison was tabbed third,
followed by Oberlin and Wooster.
So far this season, Nick Dewald
(Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) has been
Wittenberg’s top finisher in all but two races this season.
For the women Abi Gerstle (Kettering,
Ohio/Fairmont) has taken the plaudits by
leading the squad each week, and she is the top returning runner in
the NCAC overall. In 2001, Gerstle became the first Wittenberg
runner, male or female, to win an individual conference
championship and Runner of the Year honors.
Tigers Plan To Host to NCAC Championship
Posted: Oct 29, 2002