CLEVELAND, OH – John Carroll was voted the favorite to win both the men’s and women’s races ahead of the 2026 North Coast Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships, based on pre-championship balloting of the league coaches.
The 2026 NCAC Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, October 31, in Oberlin, Ohio. Oberlin College will host the championships at North Fields on campus, with the women’s 6,000-meter race starting at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men’s 8,000-meter race at 12:00 p.m. The combined awards ceremony is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
After strong showings in their first appearances at the NCAC Cross Country Championships last season, the John Carroll men’s and women’s teams were tabbed as the favorites for this year’s races. JCU won the 2025 Men’s Cross Country Championship and finished second behind Ohio Wesleyan in the 2025 Women’s Cross Country Championship.
On the men’s side, the Blue Streaks are seeking their second consecutive title. John Carroll topped the pre-championship projections with 80 points and received eight first-place votes. Denison, last year’s sixth-place finisher, received the remaining first-place vote and tallied 67 points to take second in the poll, while DePauw (63) and Kenyon (59) followed closely to round out the top four. Host Oberlin placed fifth with 44 points, followed by Wabash (33), Wittenberg (30), Ohio Wesleyan (19), and Wooster (10).
The women’s projected standings were tight at the top, with John Carroll narrowly edging defending champion Ohio Wesleyan 61-58. The Blue Streaks received six first-place votes, while the Battling Bishops collected the remaining two. DePauw (48) and Denison (41) followed in third and fourth, respectively. Kenyon (31) and host Oberlin (24) placed fifth and sixth, while Wittenberg (16) and Wooster (9) rounded out the eight-team field.
Amongst individual men’s runners, John Carroll returns the top two finishers from the 2025 championship and the top three returning runners overall, but there is plenty of room for new competitors to claim spots as half of the top 10 finishers from last season’s championship were graduating seniors. JCU senior Nate Julien (Akron, OH/Firestone) looks to pace the field again after earning 2025 NCAC Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year honors with a title-winning time of 25:20.3. His teammate, sophomore Sam Su (Akron, OH/Woodridge), will also be in the hunt after finishing second in 25:21.7. Another Blue Streaks runner, sophomore Charles Payne (Lakewood, OH/Lakewood), crossed seventh at 25:46.2 behind four seniors, giving JCU the top three returning runners in 2026. Kenyon junior Charlie Blackmer (Libertyville, IL/Vernon Hills) will look to jump up the standings after placing ninth last season at 25:50.0, while Oberlin senior Will Gordon (Durham, NC/Charles E. Jordan) aims for another strong finish on his home course after last year’s 10th-place finish (25:55.4).
Ohio Wesleyan leads the way with three returning top-10 women’s finishers, led by 2025 NCAC Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, Zoe Ward (Columbus, OH/Worthington Christian). The senior has her sights set on a second straight title after pacing last season’s field with a time of 22:10.9. Her classmate, Brianna Montgomery (Gibsonburg, OH/Gibsonburg), looks to build on her bronze-medal 2025 finish, where she clocked in at 22:33.8, giving OWU the top two returning runners. The other two top-four spots from last year’s championship were graduating seniors, leaving room for new contenders to emerge. John Carroll junior Anne Rea (Akron, OH/Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary) will look to add another All-NCAC award after finishing fifth last season (22:40.7). DePauw senior Grace Thomas (Valparaiso, IN/Valparaiso) and Wittenberg senior Maddi Clark (Mentor, OH/Mentor) return after placing sixth (22:44.5) and seventh (22:50.9), respectively. DePauw senior Grace Flores (Boerne, TX/Boerne-Samuel V. Champion) (22:59.5) and Ohio Wesleyan senior Sophie Cotts (Granville, OH/Granville) (23:04.9) rounded out last year’s top 10.
2026 NCAC Cross Country
Pre-Championship Coaches Polls |
| WOMEN |
MEN |
| Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
Rank |
Institution (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1 |
John Carroll (6) |
61 |
1 |
John Carroll (8) |
80 |
| 2 |
Ohio Wesleyan (2) |
58 |
2 |
Denison (1) |
67 |
| 3 |
DePauw |
48 |
3 |
DePauw |
63 |
| 4 |
Denison |
41 |
4 |
Kenyon |
59 |
| 5 |
Kenyon |
31 |
5 |
Oberlin |
44 |
| 6 |
Oberlin |
24 |
6 |
Wabash |
33 |
| 7 |
Wittenberg |
16 |
7 |
Wittenberg |
30 |
| 8 |
Wooster |
9 |
8 |
Ohio Wesleyan |
19 |
|
|
|
9 |
Wooster |
10 |