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.