WC cross-country looks to build on recent success in 2025

The Wilmington College men's and women's cross-country teams return for the 2025 season after a historical 2024 campaign. The Quakers women's team had their first ever national champion crowned in Faith Duncan, while Noah Tobin also qualified for the national meet and had a fantastic season.

A Look Back

As mentioned, Faith Duncan and Noah Tobin qualified for the national championship meet last season, with Duncan winning the individual National Championship and earning All-American honors.

Duncan finished the season without losing a single race, while Tobin won an impressive four races.

The Quakers men's team finished in fifth place at the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships, while the women finished in 10th. Along with Duncan and Tobin, senior Tate Yoder was named All-Great Lakes Region after a 22nd place finish at the regional.

Key Pieces Lost

Duncan and Tobin will be missed this season for the Quakers, after their great 2024 campaigns leading their respective teams.

Key Returners

On the men's side, All-Region performer Tate Yoder and senior Gabe Moore (an Eastern Brown HS graduate) return for Wilmington. Yoder finished in the Top-25 at both the OAC Championships (21st) and Great Lakes Regional (22nd), as he just missed out on All-OAC honors to go along with being named All-Region. He added three other Top-15 finishes during his season and looks to have an even better senior year.

The most improved runner last year for Wilmington was Gabe Moore. After never finishing better than 30th in a race heading into the season, Moore delivered two Top-20 finishes and four Top-35 finishes in a truly breakout season. He was 32nd at the OAC Championships and took 61st at the Great Lakes Regional. This continued into track & field season, as he took seventh indoors at OAC's in the 5k and sixth outdoors at OAC's in the 10k. Yoder and Moore will be the leaders of this 2025 Quakers squad.

Junior Hayden Setty will look to lead the way for Wilmington on the women's side. She set her best 5k and 6k times last season in the JennaStrong Fall Classic (5k, 21:56.5) and the OAC Championships (6k, 25:20.2). She had a great track & field season, as she was a part of the Second Team All-OAC indoor DMR and outdoor 4x400 Meter Relay teams, along with taking home individual honors in the outdoor 800 Meter Run (3rd team, 2:15.98). Setty looks to improve and help the Quakers move up the OAC rankings.

Newcomers

A few Quakers to watch out for in their first season are Braydon Buchanan and Morgan Blair. Buchanan qualified for the Division II Ohio state cross-country meet in 2024 as a senior at Bryan High School.

Blair finished last season as a First Team Greater Catholic League member at Bishop Fenwick High School. She qualified for the regional cross-country meet three times during her high school career.

Also joining the team for Wilmington on the men's side are Cameron Adkins, Alex Bennett, Ethan DeRoest and Simeon Williamson.

On the women's side, Anna Armstrong (a North Adams graduate), Bryauna Bailey (a Hillsboro graduate), Heather Dutenhaver, Addison Naus, Avery Vance and DaShae Washington all join the program.

Coaching Staff Ron Combs enters year 29 as the Quakers Head Men's and Women's cross-country coach. Over the last few seasons alone, Combs has coached several All-Americans and national qualifiers.

Joining him for his third season as an Assistant Coach is former Quaker Josh Cyrus.

Hannah Jones and Dylan Combs enter their second season as assistants, while another former Quaker in Tony Goodrich starts his eighth season alongside Combs.

What to Watch For

The Quakers will be competing in the All-Ohio Classic, hosted by Cedarville University, on Sept. 19. 

The Quakers host their 32nd Wilmington College Fall Classic, and the 12th known as the JennaStrong Fall Classic, on Oct. 17.

The OAC Championships are on Nov. 1, hosted by Otterbein University, while the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Nov. 15 is in Louisville, Ky. The national championship meet takes place on Nov. 22 in Spartanburg, S.C., if a Quaker were to qualify.