WC’s Faith Duncan named USTFCCCA Great Lakes Region Athlete of the Year
Faith Duncan. (Wilmington College photo)
Wilmington College’s Faith Duncan continued to earn honors during her historical 2024 season, as she was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Great Lakes Region Athlete of the Year on Tuesday afternoon.
She becomes the first woman in program history to earn this honor in cross-country and just the second WC athlete ever, with the other being Simon Heys in 2023 for the men’s team.
Duncan (Lebanon, Ohio/Lebanon HS) enters Saturday morning’s NCAA Cross-Country Championships undefeated, with seven wins this season, and her average win coming by 53.9 seconds. Her list of accomplishments include running the second fastest time in Division III women’s cross-country history for a 6K race.
She ran a 19:49.2 at the OAC Championships on Nov. 2nd and is just the third woman ever to break the 20-minute threshold, joining Missy Butry from Wartburg University and Fiona Smith from The College of Saint Benedict.
Duncan has been named the USTFCCCA’s Division III National Athlete of the Week twice and the Ohio Athletic Conference’s (OAC) Athlete of the Week four times this season. She set a new Quakers program-record time of 16:42.6 in the 5K and 19:49.2 in the 6K.
She became the Quakers’ first Great Lakes Regional individual champion and first OAC individual champion. Duncan looks to become the Quakers’ first cross-country national champion on Saturday morning.
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