This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster men's and women's cross country team heads to Oberlin, Ohio to compete in the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, October 31. The meet is hosted by Oberlin College and will take place on the Yeomen and Yeowomen's campus with a start time of 11 a.m.

Coverage: Live results and Oberlin's stream can be found on Oberlin's hosting microsite.

Last Year's Meet (Men): Wooster's men placed seventh at the 2025 conference meet, which was held on the campus of Kenyon College. Six of the men's top-seven posted collegiate-bests, led by alumnus Zane DeMercurio with 33rd place in a career-best 26:44.6. Those top times continued all the way down through the remainder of the Fighting Scots' scorers. Alumnus Joe Ahmann was the second harrier, crossing the finish line in 37th place in a career-best 26:48.4. Then-sophomores Basil Keck (Madison, Wis./West) and Grant Mentzer (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) were the third and fourth to come in with collegiate-bests of 27:46.9 and 28:03.7, respectively, to place 53rd and 64th. Current senior Nick Schade (Olney, Md./Sherwood) is the other returnee from last year's top seven.

Last Year's Meet (Women): Wooster's women placed eighth in 2025 and were led by then-first-year Lauren Acker. Acker placed 36th in her first conference championship meet in 24:12.1. Alumna Amy Gabrovsek joined the personal-record parade with a career-best 25:30.6 to finish 60th. Then-juniors Reeve Helvoigt (Eugene, Ore./Marist Catholic) and Elise Wheeler (Westminster, Colo./Prospect Ridge Academy) were Wooster's third- and fourth-place finishers, posting times of 26:06.2 and 26:20.2, respectively. Other's back from Wooster's top-seven at last year's conference meet include current junior Eilidh Horn (Shaker Hts., Ohio/Shaker Heights) and current senior Naomi Kaczor (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer).

Looking Back: Oberlin last hosted the NCAC Championships in 2017. Wooster's men placed fourth and were led by Jackson Feinknopf's All-NCAC honorable mention 15th-place time of 26:09.1. On the women's side, Wooster placed seventh.        

Top-10: First-year Stella Anderson (Austin, Texas/Ann Richards) leads Wooster's team heading into this week's championship. She debuted with the fourth-place time of 17:07.2 at the season-opening 4K Wooster Invitational on September 1 and followed that up with a top-10 placement at Tiffin University's meet on September 11. Anderson posted a 25:12.6 in her first collegiate championship-length race, which came at the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Cross Country Challenge on September 18 at Cedarville University and she was over a minute faster at the Ohio Wesleyan University Invitational on October 2.

The Best: Numerous Fighting Scots on the women's side come into the NCAC Championships having posted a championship-length best in the last 6K meet, which took place at Ohio Wesleyan at the beginning of October. First-year Eloise Gravel (Middleburg Hts., Ohio/Berea-Midpark) went 24:39.6 at Ohio Wesleyan's meet for a championship-length best by over two minutes. Wheeler (25:14.2), first-year Sophie Krummick (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) (25:37.4), first-year Molly Noesen-Bosscher (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) (25:49.9), and senior Cheyenne Wentz (Lancaster, Ohio/Bloom-Carroll) (26:11.8) were the others within the OWU top-seven to post collegiate-bests.

Steady as They Come: Keck's emerged as the frontrunner on Wooster's men's side. The junior has led the team at the last two meets, posting a collegiate-best along the way. Keck's 8K best of 27:13.7 came at Ohio Wesleyan, and he was just five seconds off that with a 27:18.9 at Wilmington College's Jenna Strong Fall Classic.

Primed for Championship Season: Sophomore Max Kollhoff (Madison, Ohio/Madison) and first-year Owen Neville (Loudonville, Ohio/West Holmes) enter the NCAC meet riding career-bests from Jenna Strong. Kollhoff covered the 8,000 meters in 28:38.5, while Neville posted a 28:59.8 in his last start. Elsewhere, Mentzer (27:44.2), first-year Gabe Coble (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington) (28:17.4), and junior Andrew Rombach (Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Central Catholic) (28:05.3) all had collegiate-bests at the Ohio Wesleyan meet in early October.