Wooster NCAC Championships Hosting Site
This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster men's and women's cross country teams host this year's North Coast Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, October 29 at L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course. The women's 6,000-meter race kicks off at 11 a.m. with the men's 8,000-meter race to follow at 12:15 p.m. An awards ceremony will take place upon the conclusion of the men's championship race near the finish line, and that will move inside to the Scot Center indoor track in the event of inclement weather. There is no charge to attend the 2022 NCAC Cross Country Championships.
Media Coverage: On The Mark Timing will provide live results. Weather permitting, there will be a livestream of the awards ceremony at approximately 1 p.m. Fans can access Wooster's NCAC Cross Country Championships webpage for additional information.
NCAC History: Wooster previously hosted the NCAC Championships in 1985 (men third, women second), 1992 (men sixth, women seventh), 2003 (men third, women fourth), and 2012 (men seventh, women seventh). Brendan Callahan was the NCAC runner-up with a time of 26:35 at the 2012 NCAC Championships, while Patty Smanik (fifth, 19:55 on 5,000-meters course) is the highest women's finisher at a NCAC Championship hosted by the College.
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NOTEBOOK
A Look Back: Wooster logged a third-place finish – its highest since 1998 – at the 2021 NCAC Championships. Junior Athena Tharenos (St. Louis, Mo./Mary Institute & St. Louis Country Day School; studying abroad this semester) and senior Isabelle Hoover (Millersport, Ohio/Fairfield Union) earned first-team all-conference laurels, thanks to finishes in the top-seven. They are the first Scots to earn first-team All-NCAC honors in cross country since W Association Hall of Famer Katie Wieferich was the individual champion at the 2006 league meet. Prior to 2021, Wooster did not have a pair of first-teamers since 1998, when the Scots finishes as the co-NCAC champion. Tharenos' 23:38.1 was sixth, while Hoover was seventh with a time of 23:41.1.
Wooster's Ace: Simply put, Hoover is Wooster's distance ace. She is a three-time All-NCAC performer in cross country. The 2021 first-teamer debuted with second-team laurels in 2018 with the 14th-place time of 23:36.1, then moved up to 10th-place (23:01.7) at the 2019 championships. Hoover earned all-region honors in cross country as a sophomore. The senior is a six-time All-NCAC performer in track and field, headlined by NCAC Athlete of the Year honors for the 2022 indoor championships, where she swept the conference titles in the 3,000 (10:32.11) and 5,000 meters (17:47.61). Hoover is the two-time defending conference champion in the outdoor 10,000 meters, is a 10-time NCAC Athlete of the Week, and has finished in the top-four in all four starts this fall.
Returning Core: In addition to Hoover, Wooster returns sophomore Dylan Kretchmar (Granville, Ohio/Granville) (24:38.4), sophomore Jessie Breth (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) (26:14.6), sophomore Elise Greenwald (Eldersburg, Md./Century) (27:24.2), sophomore Isabelle Dwyer (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) (27:42.1), sophomore Igna Mendez (Santiago, Chile/Mayflower School) (28:39.2), and sophomore Eva Bauman (Tacoma, Wash./Silas) (29:34.1) from its 2021 conference roster.
A Check of the NCAC Coaches Poll: Wooster was forecasted seventh in the pre-championship coaches poll and received 10 points. DePauw University was forecasted to win the conference title with six of seven first-place votes and 48 points overall.
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NOTEBOOK
Flashback to 2021: Wooster finished in seventh-place with 184 points at the 2021 NCAC Championships, which took place at Clark County Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ohio. Will Callender (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt), who was Wooster's top finisher at every meet as a first-year, collected second-team all-conference honors with the ninth-place time of 26:50.8. Three of Wooster's top-four finishers were first-years last year with Ben Nichols (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) (27:58.7) and Drew Robertson (Bébalem, Chad/Rift Valley Academy (Kenya)) (28:06.3) joining Callender in the top-50.
Mr. All-Ohio: Callender earned All-Ohio honors when the Scots raced under the lights at Cedarville University's Elvin R. King Cross Country Course on September 16. The two-time All-Ohio performer navigated the championship-length course in 25:27.9, which ranked ninth among NCAA Div. III harriers. Callender was previously an All-Ohio performer in the 5,000 meters during the outdoor track and field season. Callender later was the first-place finisher at Muskingum University's Invitational on October 1. His mark of 26:54.6 was about six seconds better than the next finisher. In between those meets, Callender broke the tape in a dual meet against NCAC rival Denison University. He is a two-time NCAC Athlete of the Week this fall.
Experience: In addition to Callender, Nichols, and Robertson, Wooster returns junior Duncan Hardy (Mt. Vernon, Ohio/Mt. Vernon) (28:05.4), sophomore Eric Johnson (Athens, Ohio/Athens) (28:33.3), junior Mitch Ecklund (East Lansing, Mich./Haslett) (29:38.1), sophomore Michail Protopapadakis (Chestnut Hill, Mass./Brookline) (30:04.3), and sophomore Toby Burgess (Minneapolis, Minn./Edina) (31:01.9), who all competed for the Scots at the 2021 NCAC Championships.
Talking Rankings: DePauw was the unanimous coaches' choice to win this year's title, which would be the fifth-straight for the Tigers. The NCAC released the pre-championship coaches poll on Monday afternoon. Wooster received 14 points and was picked to finish in eighth-place.