CLEVELAND, OH – The Kenyon men and Ohio Wesleyan women have been tabbed as the favorites to win their respective 2025 North Coast Athletic Conference cross country titles, based on pre-championship balloting by league coaches.
The 2025 NCAC Cross Country Championships will be held this Saturday, November 1, at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. The men’s 8,000-meter race will begin at 11:00 a.m., followed by the women’s 6,000-meter race at 12:15 p.m. Kenyon is serving as the host for the championships.
The Kenyon Owls, who are on the hunt for their first NCAC men’s cross country title since 2003 after winning three straight from 1999-2001, earned seven first-place votes and totaled 79 points to lead the 2025 pre-championship poll. John Carroll followed closely in second with two first-place votes and 71 points overall. Denison was tabbed third with 61 points, while Oberlin ranked fourth with 57. DePauw placed fifth with 47 points, followed by Wabash (36), Wooster (27), Ohio Wesleyan (17), and Wittenberg (10) to round out the nine-team field.
The Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops, seeking their first NCAC women’s cross country title, headline the 2025 pre-championship poll after collecting six first-place votes and 62 points. John Carroll earned the remaining two first-place votes to sit second with 57 points, while DePauw ranked third with 48 points. Wittenberg followed in fourth with 41, trailed by Denison (28), Kenyon (26), Oberlin (18), and Wooster (8).
Two top-10 finishers from last year’s men’s championship return in 2025, while the graduation of seven front-runners opens the door for new legs to accelerate into contention. Wittenberg junior
Lukas Rieben (Clayton, OH/Northmont) and Oberlin junior
Piers Shirk (University Place, WA/Curtis Senior) will look to challenge for the individual title after placing sixth and seventh, respectively, to earn
All-NCAC first-team honors in 2024. The two were separated by just 2.66 seconds at last year’s meet, with Rieben crossing in 25:51.19 and Shirk finishing in 25:53.85, and both return poised to contend for the conference title.
A familiar group headlines the women’s field, with five of last year’s top-10 finishers returning for the 2025 championship. Ohio Wesleyan junior
Zoe Ward (Columbus, OH/Worthington Christian) looks to take the crown after placing third in 2024 with a time of 22:14.51 to earn
All-NCAC first-team honors. Wittenberg’s duo of junior
Maddie Clark (Mentor, OH/Mentor) and senior
Emma Hawk (Marion, OH/River Valley) also return after finishing fifth (22:32.29) and seventh (22:56.17), respectively, to collect
first-team recognition. Rounding out the returning top performers are DePauw junior
Grace Flores (Boerne, TX/Boerne-Samuel V. Champion), who placed ninth in 23:13.78, and Ohio Wesleyan junior
Sophie Cotts (Granville, OH/Granville), who finished tenth in 23:17.40, both earning
All-NCAC second-team honors.
2025 NCAC Cross Country
Pre-Championship Coaches Polls |
| WOMEN |
MEN |
| Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
Ohio Wesleyan (6) |
62 |
1 |
Kenyon (7) |
79 |
| 2 |
John Carroll (2) |
57 |
2 |
John Carroll (2) |
71 |
| 3 |
DePauw |
48 |
3 |
Denison |
61 |
| 4 |
Wittenberg |
41 |
4 |
Oberlin |
57 |
| 5 |
Denison |
28 |
5 |
DePauw |
47 |
| 6 |
Kenyon |
26 |
6 |
Wabash |
36 |
| 7 |
Oberlin |
18 |
7 |
Wooster |
27 |
| 8 |
Wooster |
8 |
8 |
Ohio Wesleyan |
17 |
|
|
|
9 |
Wittenberg |
10 |