Brian Lief

Collier Summay

Men's 8K Results | Women's 5K Results

The College of Wooster gained momentum heading into the North Coast Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships by tuning up with fifth-place finishes among very large fields at Wilmington College's Jenna Strong Fall Classic, as there were 36 men's teams and 37 women's competing Friday afternoon in southwestern Ohio.

The third annual event honors the memory of Wilmington runner Jenna Parlette, who collapsed at a meet and later passed away.

Wooster's men's team matched its top-five performance from last year, and only finished behind one other NCAA Div. III school. Of the 234 scoring runners, Blake Pecoraro and Alex Chabraja led the Scots, covering the 8K course in 26:13.5 and 26:19.3, respectively, which was good for 15th- and 22nd-place in the individual standings.

Teammate Brian Lief also broke the 27-minute barrier, while crossing the line in 42nd (26:57.2), while Albert Darling in 63rd (27:28.0) and Herbert Sizek in 81st (27:42.0) were Wooster's other point producers.

The Scot women moved up seven spots in the team standings, compared to last season's meet. Their top-five were separated by just 48 seconds, paced by Kayla Zboran, who was 21st out of 239 scoring runners by completing the 5K with a 19:41.0 time. That marked a 28-second improvement over her run at the course last year.

Just 10 seconds back was Mackenzie Kellar in 34th-place as she lowered her time 29 seconds to 19:51.2, followed closely by Collier Summay in 50th (20:08.1), Katherine Wittig in 53rd (20:13.3), and Emani Kelley in 60th (20:19.5).

The NCAC Championships will take place Oct. 31, on the campus of Kenyon College.