David Westcott

Isabelle Hoover

POWELL, Ohio – The College of Wooster cross country teams put together two of their better finishes in quite some time at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships hosted at Liberty Park by Ohio Wesleyan University on Saturday. 

The men finished third and the women finished in fifth. The last time the women finished fifth or better was in 2009, while the men had not finished third or better since 2013.

The men totaled 99 points behind the 80 from Allegheny College and the 37 from first place DePauw University.

They were led by an All-NCAC First Team performance from senior David Westcott who crossed the line in 25:53.8 to finish fourth. It was the highest finish on the men's side since Matthew Linman was third in the 2004 race.

Fellow senior Brian Lief also claimed All-NCAC honors. His 16th place showing in a time of 26:50.9 gave him an honorable mention.

Junior Aedan Pettit and senior Simon Weyer finished in 23rd and 24th, respectively. Pettit finished in 27:18.3, and Weyer was right behind at 27:18.4.

The final scorer for the Scots was senior Jackson Feinknopf. His time of 27:33.9 placed him 32nd of the 98 runners.

On the women's side, the Scots were four points away from finishing in fourth but finished with a total of 132 for fifth. Oberlin edged Allegheny by one point to take home the women's NCAC title.

Earning All-NCAC Second Team honors was freshman Isabelle Hoover, who had a solid debut in the championships crossing the line in 23:36.1 for 14th place. She was the second fastest freshman on the day, behind DePauw's Jenny Noll who finished seventh and was awarded NCAC Newcomer of the Year.

Wooster's other All-NCAC runner was senior Emani Kelley. Kelley received an honorable mention following her 17th place finish, crossing the line at 23:51.9.

Junior Audrey Cordova was Wooster's next runner to cross. She finished in 35th with a time of 24:25.6.

Freshmen Kayla Bertholf and Marian Overfield rounded out the scoring for the Scots as they finished within a couple seconds of one another. Bertholf was 37th with a time of 24:30.5, and Overfield finished 39th with a time of 24:32.3.

Next, the Scots will host the Twilight 5K Challenge on Nov. 2.