DePauw Women, Wittenberg Men Top NCAC Pre-Champ Poll

CLEVELAND, OH – The 2025 NCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held Friday-Saturday, May 2-3 at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. The DePauw women are seeking their first NCAC title, while the Wittenberg men are aiming for their fifth overall championship and first title since 2002. Both squads have been selected as the favorites heading into this year's meet based on pre-championship balloting by the league coaches.
 
In the men's poll, Wittenberg claimed the top spot with 80 points and eight of the nine possible first-place votes. Wabash followed in second with 67 points, just ahead of Denison, which earned 66 points and the remaining first-place vote. DePauw landed in fourth with 53 points, while Ohio Wesleyan took fifth with 44 points and Oberlin ranked sixth with 40 points. Kenyon (23), Wooster (22), and Hiram (10) rounded out the nine-team field.
 
Led by 10th-year head coach Paris Hilliard, Wittenberg enters the championship with depth across a variety of events. The Ohio Tigers feature a mix of veteran talent and rising underclassmen and currently hold at least one top-five conference mark in 12 events.
 
  • First-year Jack Kittle (Chargin Falls, OH/Chargin Falls) has emerged as the NCAC’s sprint leader, posting the fastest times in both the 200-meter (21.10) and 400-meter (47.25) dashes. The rookie and senior Cameron Elliott (Springfield, OH/Springfield), the defending 400 champion and current No. 2 seed in the event with a time of 47.41, are the only two runners to have posted sub-48-second times in the 400 heading into the conference championship.
  • First-year Elijah Simmons (Jacksonville, FL/Groveport) enters the championship in a three-way tie for the top spot in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.71 seconds and holds the third-fastest mark in the 200 (21.65), giving Wittenberg depth in the short sprints.
  • In the hurdles, junior Riley Payne (Hamilton, OH/Trenton Edgewood) ranks in the top five in the 100 at 14.82 seconds, while sophomore Owen Bier (Elyria, OH/Midview), who placed third in 2024, currently ranks fourth in the 400 at 56.80.
  • In the distance events, sophomore Lukas Rieben (Clayton, OH/Northmont) leads the NCAC in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:06.41 to sit nearly 10 seconds ahead of the next competitor, while senior Conor Kolka (Dexter, MI/Dexter), the 2024 Distance Athlete of the Year, tops the 10,000-meter list at 30:40.11 to own the league’s only mark to dip under 31 minutes.
  • In the field, senior Justin Norris (Middletown, OH/Middletown Christian), who placed third a season ago in the high jump, ranks second with a clearance of 1.99 meters, while senior Bryce Ray (Sun City, FL/Sumner) sits second in the long jump at 7.01 meters.
  • Sophomore Troy Crosby (Clayton, OH/Northmont) owns the top NCAC mark in the discus at 45.45 meters. With that mark, the sophomore sits as the only athlete in the conference to eclipse the 45-meter barrier this season.
  • In the hammer throw, junior Max Green (Centerville, OH/Centerville) ranks fifth with a toss of 46.83 meters, while sophomore Max Martindale (Mason, OH/Lakota West) holds the fourth-best shot put mark in the NCAC at 14.51 meters.

In the women's poll, DePauw earned the top spot with 63 points and seven of the eight possible first-place votes. Wittenberg followed in second with 55 points and the remaining first-place vote, while Ohio Wesleyan secured third with 50 points. Denison took fourth with 40 points, while Kenyon took fifth with 30 points, followed by Wooster (24), Oberlin (18), and Hiram (8) to complete the eight-team field.
 
Under the leadership of 29-year head coach Kori Stoffregen, DePauw enters the meet with a balanced roster of experienced veterans and standout sophomores, ready to contend for the top of the team standings. The Indiana Tigers boast top-five marks in 13 events, with significant depth in the distance races.
 
  • Sophomore Shelby Stall (Lindenhurst, IL/Lakes), the 2024 Newcomer of the Year, leads DePauw’s sprint crew with top-three NCAC marks in both the 200-meter (25.17; third) and 400-meter (56.66; second) dashes, providing a powerful presence in the sprint events.
  • In the hurdle events, sophomore Liberty Scott (Galveston, IN/Lewis Cass) leads a strong DePauw squad heading into the 2025 championships, ranking second in the 100 (14.32) and first in the 400 (1:02.01). Scott placed third in both events last season, while senior Katie Moore (Lawrenceville, IL/Lawrenceville), the reigning NCAC champion in both the 400-meter hurdles and the heptathlon and runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles, sits just behind Scott in the 400 with a time of 1:03.07.
  • In the distance races, sophomore Grace Flores (Boerne, TX/Boerne-Samuel V. Champion) owns the NCAC’s best time in the 5,000-meter run at 17:40.97 and ranks second in the 10,000 (37:00.44). Senior Sophie Porter (Westfield, IN/Westfield), the 2024 NCAC Distance Runner of the Year, returns to the championship after sweeping the 1,500, 5,000, and 10,000 last season. She currently ranks fourth in the 1,500 (4:45.77), third in the 5,000 (17:52.95), and leads the 10,000 with a commanding time of 35:31.67, the only mark in the conference under 37 minutes.
  • Senior Kendall Mann (New Palestine, IN/New Palestine) holds the conference’s top time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:10.56) after placing third a year ago and ranks fourth in the 5,000 (15:54.22), while classmate Lily Monnett (Cloverdale, IN/Cloverdale) is second in the steeple (11:22.93). Junior Morgan Tharp (McCordsville, IN/Mt. Vernon) adds depth in both the steeplechase (11:48.14) and the 1,500 (4:47.70) as she ranks fourth and fifth, respectively.
  • Junior Tessa Kochert (Glen Ellyn, IL/Glenbard West) enters the 2025 championship as a top contender in both horizontal jumps, ranking third in the long jump (5.36 meters) and second in the triple jump (11.46 meters), an event she placed third in a season ago.
  • In the throws, junior Lucy Stokes (St. Louis, MO/Whitfield) leads the NCAC in the hammer with a top mark of 44.60 meters, marking her as the only thrower in the league to break 44 meters. Also looking for all-conference honors are senior Bree Mahoney-Sutherland (Greencastle, IN/South Putnam), who ranks third in the shot put (11.63 meters), and sophomore Molly Stevener (Kirkwood, MO/Kirkwood), who owns the league’s second-best mark in the javelin at 34.50 meters.
 
The first scoring events of the 2025 meet, the heptathlon and the decathlon, will take place this coming Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27 at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio.
 
2025 NCAC Outdoor Track & Field 
Pre-Championship Coaches Polls
WOMEN MEN
Rank School (1st place votes) Points Rank School (1st place votes) Points
1. DePauw (7) 63 1.  Wittenberg (8) 80
2. Wittenberg (1) 55 2.  Wabash 67
3. Ohio Wesleyan 50 3.  Denison (1) 66
4. Denison 40 4. DePauw 53
5. Kenyon 30 5. Ohio Wesleyan 44
6. Wooster 24 6.  Oberlin 40
7. Oberlin 18 7.  Kenyon 23
8. Hiram 8 8.  Wooster 22
9. Hiram 10

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