Faith Duncan becomes WC’s first-ever cross-country national champion in dominant performance

Faith Duncan continued her historical run of dominance in her second year of action at Wilmington College Saturday morning at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross-Country Course. She blew past the competition at the NCAA Division III Cross-Country Championships en route to a time of 20:16.5 and a 42-second national championship victory.

Duncan is the first Quaker in program history, men’s or women’s, to win a national championship in cross country.

Duncan (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon HS) ran the first 1,000 meters of her race in 3:06.6 and led by just under two seconds before leaving the field in the dust after 3K and cruising to victory.

This is Duncan’s second national championship in a Quakers uniform, as she shocked the Division III running world and won the outdoor track & field 5,000-meter run in the spring to put herself on the map.

Duncan ends her cross-country season undefeated, winning eight races and never truly being tested. She was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Region Athlete of the Year, Great Lakes All-Region, First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), was named USTFCCCA Athlete of the Week twice and OAC Athlete of the Week four times.

Duncan and the Quakers will be back in action during their indoor track & field season, beginning in a few weeks.

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