NCAC RELEASE

CLEVELAND, Ohio – On Monday afternoon, the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) announced the 2025 pre-championship polls for men's and women's cross country. The Ohio Wesleyan women's cross country team was picked to finish in the top spot in the conference championship race hosted by Kenyon on Saturday.

The Battling Bishops earned a total of 62 points in the poll, including six first place votes. The runner-up was NCAC-newcomer John Carroll with 57 points and two first place votes. The full poll lists as: 1 - Ohio Wesleyan (62), 2 - John Carroll (57), 3 - DePauw (48), 4 - Wittenberg (41), 5 - Denison (28), 6 - Kenyon (26), 7 - Oberlin (18), 8 - Wooster (8).

The Red and Black are led by Zoe Ward and Sophie Cotts who have finished one-two for OWU at nearly every meet this season, and have combined for multiple race wins. Most recently, Ward recorded a season-best time of 21:35.62 and finished 31st overall at the stacked Connecticut College Invitational.

Ohio Wesleyan is currently ranked 31st in Division III on the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Cross Country Rating Index, with Ward ranked 59th individually.

On the men's side, OWU was picked eighth in the NCAC poll with 17 points. The full poll lists as: 1 - Kenyon (79), 2 - John Carroll (71), 3 - Denison (61), 4 - Oberlin (57), 5 - DePauw (47), 6 - Wabash (36), 7 - Wooster (27), 8 - Ohio Wesleyan (17), 9 - Wittenberg (10).

The Bishops head to the NCAC Championship on Saturday, hosted by Kenyon in Gambier. Races are set to get underway at 11 a.m.