Duncan earns WC program’s 1st USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year Award
Faith Duncan. (Wilmington College photo)
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named their NCAA Division III Cross Country National Athletes and Coaches of the Year Tuesday, and Wilmington Quakers sophomore Faith Duncan was honored as the Women’s Athlete of the Year.
She is the first Quaker ever in cross-country or track & field, male or female, to earn this award.
Duncan won all eight of the races she competed in this season, including the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship, Great Lakes Region Championship and ultimately the National Championship. She was named All-Region, First Team All-OAC, USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week twice and OAC Athlete of the Week four times. She will also be named OAC Runner of the Year within the next few weeks.
Duncan’s best times of the season came in the OAC Championships, where she ran a 6K in 19:49.2, which is the second-fastest time ever by a Division III runner. Duncan, Fiona Smith of The College of Saint Benedict and Missy Buttry of Wartburg College are the three runners to ever break the 20-minute barrier in Division III history.
Her fastest 5K of the season came at the JennaStrong Fall Classic, hosted at Wilmington College’s home cross country course. She set a new meet record with a time of 16:42.6 and was the first runner to ever break 17 minutes during that race. Duncan also ran a 4K to begin the season in a time of 15:07.1.
She looks to continue her success during the indoor track & field season that begins in a few weeks for the Quakers.
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