Blake Pecoraro

Kayla Zboran

Blake Pecoraro and Kayla Zboran each earned all-North Coast Athletic Conference recognition, leading their respective College of Wooster cross country teams to sixth- and seventh-place at the NCAC Championships, held Saturday on the campus of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

Pecoraro's 10th-place run pushed Wooster's men's squad into a tie for sixth-place – one spot better than predicted in the coaches' pre-meet poll – with Denison University, each team collecting 163 points, while Allegheny College (42) won the team championship. The Scots' junior standout improved seven places from last year's individual standings, as he covered Kenyon's 8K course in 25:58.1, good for a second-team all-NCAC award.

Backing Pecoraro was junior teammate Alex Chabraja, 26th-fastest to cross the line out of the conference's 107 runners with a 26:40.2 time. Notable, he was 14 seconds shy of also taking up a spot on the All-NCAC Team.

Rounding out Wooster's top contributors were Brian Lief, a freshman who took 40th (27:30.7) among scoring runners during his collegiate championship meet debut, and senior Albert Darling and junior Herbert Sizek, who followed closely in 42nd (27:37.9) and 45th (27:52.9), respectively.

Zboran notched the intial all-NCAC honor of her career, as the junior ran with the leaders most of the way and finished the 6K 13th overall in a time of 23:34.1. The second-team all-conference honoree's best previous showing at the NCAC Championships was 22nd-place.

Next for the Scots, sophomore Mackenzie Kellar crossed 34th out of the 95 competitors with a 24:22.1 time.

A couple of first-years gained significant big-meet experience in Emani Kelley and Collier Summay, who were 37th (24:55.7) and 41st (25:09.1) among scoring runners, respectively, and junior Katherine Wittig contributed team points at the NCAC's for the first time in her career by coming in 43rd (25:13.5).

Wooster will host its annual Twilight 5K Challenge on Friday as one final preparation for the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional Championships on Nov. 14.