Wieferich Wins Conference Championship Again

Katie Wieferich, shown here en route to her NCAC individual win Saturday, is just the fourth repeat champion in conference history. (Photo by Tom Strickland)

Katie Wieferich became the first woman in College of Wooster history to win the individual title at the North Coast Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships for a second time, and just the fourth repeat winner in league history, highlighting the Fighting Scots’ harriers results at the 23rd NCAC meet Saturday in Richmond, Ind.

Boosted by Wieferich’s victory, the Wooster women finished right in the middle of their nine-team field, placing fifth overall with 131 points, while Oberlin College won its first-ever NCAC championship, edging Allegheny College 48-50. Ohio Wesleyan University was third (72), followed by Denison University (87), and the Scots were ahead of Kenyon College (153), Wittenberg University (206), Earlham College (231), and Hiram College (258).

Wieferich covered the 6K course on Earlham’s campus in 24:11, 35 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Scarlett Graham of Allegheny (24:46). Wieferich, who has now won four of five races this fall, joins Wittenberg’s Abi Gerstle (2001-02), Shannon Fox of Oberlin (1995-96), and Allegheny’s Jennifer Shaver (1985-86) as two-time NCAC champs in women’s cross country.

Also for Wooster, Nicole Calderone improved 15 spots over her NCAC run from last season, taking 22nd overall (26:20). Ashley Zervos contributed a 30th-place finish (26:58), Caitlin O’Riordan scored in her debut conference event via a 37th-place showing (27:53), and Erin Byrne added a 41st-place effort (28:15).

In the men’s race, the Scots came in eighth, also out of nine as Hiram did not field a team. Winning the championship for the third-straight year was Allegheny with 25 points and rounding out the top-three were Ohio Wesleyan (79) and Denison (81).

Wooster’s top finisher was Rudy Gilman, finishing in 19th with a time of 28:26 over the 8K course. The top-20 performance landed Gilman a spot on the All-NCAC Team (honorable mention), marking the first such honor of the junior’s career.

The Scots’ other scorers were Mark DeWine, David Thomas, Paul Thompson, and Terry Workman, who placed 36th (29:13), 43rd (29:27), 52nd (30:11), and 54th (30:13), respectively.