Wieferich Second Scot Women's Harrier to Win NCAC Championship

Katie Wieferich was the best in this year's NCAC field by a full 38 seconds.

Katie Wieferich became just the second College of Wooster women’s cross country runner to win the individual crown at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, doing so Saturday at Denison University’s Bryn Du Mansion in Granville, Ohio, highlighting the Fighting Scots’ results.

Wieferich, a junior who had won four of her previous five races this fall, cruised the 6K course in a 22:30 time, which was 38 seconds faster than her nearest rival, Denison University’s Elaine Binkley (23:08). The Scot women’s other previous champion in the 22-year history of the NCAC was this year’s “W” Association Hall-of-Famer Emily Moorefield. She finished first in 1994 when it was a 5K (18:55).

Wieferich’s victory boosted the Wooster women to a seventh-place finish out of nine teams with 154 total points, while the host Big Red won the team championship (37 points) for a third-straight year.

On the men’s side, the Scots were paced by senior all-conference honorees Taylor Delhagen and Colin Turner en route to an eighth-place showing in their 10-team field. Wooster scored 182 points. Allegheny College defended its title, with three of the top-four finishers and just 26 points.

The Scots had three other women among the top-40. Sophomore Cara Stoddard crossed 32nd (25:47), followed closely by classmate Nicole Calderone and junior Emily Rackley in 37th (35:58) and 39th (26:01), respectively. Erin Fortin, another member of the sophomore class rounded out Wooster’s scoring contingent with a 45th-place run (26:22).

Delhagen paced the Scot men with an 11th-place performance over their 8K course (27:11), an impressive accomplishment considering he missed most of the season due to an injury. Turner turned in a career-best, finishing 20th overall (27:33).

The rest of the Wooster men ran in a tight group, with junior Rudy Gilman, freshman Bryan Loy, and sophomore Colin Haverkamp scoring. Gilman came in 46th (28:54), followed by Loy in 52nd (29:11) and Haverkamp in 53rd (29:18).

Wieferich and the rest of the Scots will now prepare for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, which will be held in two weeks. A similar performance there would likely put Wieferich in the national field.