(TERRE HAUTE, Ind.) – After a long season for both the Wilmington College men's and women's cross country teams, tomorrow is the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships, and the Quakers have two qualifiers.
Faith Duncan will be representing the women's team, while
Noah Tobin represents the men. The women run at 11:00 A.M., while the men follow at 12:00 P.M.
Duncan heads into the race as arguably the favorite to win the individual title. She is undefeated this season, winning seven races and winning by an average of 53.9 seconds. Her smallest margin of victory this season was over another contender at nationals in University of California, Santa Cruz's (UC Santa Cruz) Kenzie Seymour by 22.8 seconds at D3 Pre-Nationals on October 4th. Duncan won with a time of 21:02.8 while Seymour ran 21:25.6 at the same course they will be running tomorrow, the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
Other notes for Duncan include her running the second fastest time ever in a Division III 6K, a 19:49.2 at Hillcrest Golf Course at the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships in Findlay, Ohio. She joins Fiona Smith (The College of Saint Benedict) and Missy Buttry (Wartburg College) as the elite class to break 20 minutes in the Division III ranks.
Duncan was not only the Great Lakes Region Champion and OAC Champion, but she was named U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Region Athlete of the Year on Tuesday. To round out this incredible season, she was All-Great Lakes Region, First Team All-OAC, a two-time USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week, and a four-time OAC Athlete of the Week.
Tobin heads into tomorrow's race having an impressive season of his own. He won four of the seven races he competed in and was also the first Division III finisher at the All Ohio Intercollegiate Classic.
Tobin took third place at the Great Lakes Regional race, while winning the OAC title. The other three races he won were the JennaStrong Fall Classic, the Franklin College Grizzly XC Invitational, and the Wild Witt Exhibition Race. He set his personal best with a 24:20.9 at the OAC Championships.
He was All-Region, First Team All-OAC, and a four-time OAC Athlete of the Week honoree this season. When he competed at D3 Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute earlier this season, he came away with an 11th place finish and a time of 24:47.7. At that race, he beat Wabash College's Brayden Curnutt, who bested Tobin at the regional race last weekend.
During Tobin's first taste of the national championship atmosphere in 2022, he finished in 56th at Michigan State University's course. He looks for his first All-American nod in cross country, which is awarded to the Top-40 finishers.
Duncan and Tobin will have a big crowd of Quakers supporters behind them tomorrow as they look to bring a pair of successful races and some hardware back to Wilmington College.
