Tiger Teams Place Fifth, Ninth As Hosts Of 2011 NCAC Championships
The Wabash Little Giants took the top spot in the men's race, a feat matched by the Oberlin Yeowomen in the 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship meet (Meet Home Page), hosted by Wittenberg University John Bryan State Park.
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio — The Wabash Little Giants took the top spot in the men's race, a feat matched by the Oberlin Yeowomen in the 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship meet (Meet Home Page), hosted by Wittenberg University John Bryan State Park.
Wabash was the pre-meet favorite on the men's side, and the Little Giants didn't disappoint, putting five runners in the top 22 to outdistance Allegheny by 13 points. The Gators had four of the top 14 runners in the 116-runner field to finish second, followed by Ohio Wesleyan with 67 points, Oberlin (115), DePauw (140), Denison (146), Wooster (193), Kenyon (201), Wittenberg (207) and Hiram (289).
Oberlin was also the coaches pick in the women's competition, and the Yeowomen turned in a dominating performance, claiming five of the top 10 spots int he 98-runner field to post a team score of 32. Ohio Wesleyan was a distant second with 103 points, followed by DePauw (111), Kenyon (117), Wittenberg (123), Allegheny (136), Wooster (142), Denison (153) and Hiram (290).
The men's individual champion was senior Dee Salukombo of Denison with a time of 25:09. He moved up from third place a year ago while improving his time by 35 seconds. Wabash's Kevin McCarthy placed second with a time of 25:15, 10 seconds ahead of DePauw's Noah Draddy in third. Brian Edwards from Wabash and Kevin Edwards from Allegheny rounded out the top five.
Wittenberg's top finisher was sophomore Jacob Kuntz (Versailles, Ky./Woodford), who placed 38th in the final standings. Junior Trevor Grandy (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman) was next in 42nd, followed by senior Jarrett Cowgill (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) in 46th, junior Adam Markins (Chillicothe, Ohio/Union Scioto) in 50th and senior Kyler Cowgill (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) in 56th.
The women's race was captured by Ohio Wesleyan sophomore Cara DeAngelis, who crossed the finish line in 22:10. She improved her time by more than a minute from the 2010 meet, when she finished fifth in a race hosted by Wabash. Molly Martorella of Oberlin placed second, seven seconds behind the winning time. Jenna Willet of Kenyon, Kristina Martin of Allegheny and Carey Lyons of Oberlin rounded out the top five.
The top finisher for the host team was senior Mary Pfeifer (Dublin, Ohio/Coffman), who reached the finish line in 23:08, good for seventh place. She was followed closely by sophomore Molly King (Springfield, Ohio/Northeastern) with a time of 23:25. Rounding out the Tiger point-scorers were senior Anna Henry (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston) in 28th, sophomore Maggie McIlvain (East Liverpool, Ohio/East Liverpool) in 42nd and sophomore Shannon Kelleher (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) in 43rd.
The win for Wabash was a program first since joining the NCAC in 2000. It broke a seven-year run by Allegheny, which beat the Little Giants by 29 points a year ago on Wabash's home course.
The women's team title was the third straight and fifth all-time for Oberlin.