Women’s Cross Country Earns First NCAC Championship In School History

10/31/2026 10:25:00 PM | By: Jamie Dailey '22, SID Assistant

Women's Cross Country Scores 21 Points In NCAC Championship Victory, Led By Seven All-NCAC Runners

OBERLIN, OH. – Together. Everyone. Achieves. More.

It was an all around tremendous team effort performance from the Blue Streaks this afternoon on the campus of Oberlin College.

For the last several years of competing at the conference level, the standard for this program has always been about winning championships. After coming up short at last year's conference meet in 2025 with a 13 point spread, the women had a chip on their shoulder.

The group came into today relaxed, composed, and embraced the noise. With that, it was nothing, but pure joy and happiness with each athlete coming across the finish line.

With a total score of 21 points and earning the highest finish in NCAC women's cross country team history, the Blue & Gold conquered their first ever North Coast Athletic Conference title, headlined by a 1-2-3 finish and seven All-Conference athletes.

Full Championship Results

In a tight battle with Ohio Wesleyan for most of the 6k race, the Blue Streaks came out on top in the last 1k and finished strong.

Anne Rea emerged victorious to win her first individual cross country title for the Blue Streaks with a time of 21:20.8. Rea was also honored with the 2026 NCAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Year.

The momentum continued as both Samantha Goodnough (21:38.9) and Morgan Dobos (21:39.9) worked well together throughout the competition and placed second and third overall.

The next duo to come across the finish line were Kylie Bennington (22:01.6) and Madeline Harrington (22:01.7) to round out the scoring for the women.

Rea, Goodnough, Dobos, and Bennington all earned First-Team All-NCAC, while Harrington garnered Second-Team All-NCAC.

Earning Third-Team All-NCAC were Natalie Chryst (22:36.6) and Meah Prutzman (22:35.2), who placed 19th and 21st overall.

History was made this afternoon for the program with athletes stepping up in crucial moments to earn the crown.

Daniel Tutskey, the Director of Cross Country/Track & Field at John Carroll made a statement of how well this group has strengthened each other this year.

"We are so fortunate to have an incredible group of young women who genuinely care for each other," mentioned Tutskey. "Their toughness and will to compete couldn't be stronger. It's a great day for our program."

What really stood out for the group today was how well they pulled each other along and it showed throughout various parts of the race.

"It's huge for us," mentioned Rea in her postrace interview. "We were going into this race hoping to work as a team to set us up well for our next opportunity moving forward. We were just excited to see what we could do today. With Paul Short being canceled several weeks ago, we had one single race this month."

The JCU staff of Daniel Tutskey, Steve Fuelling, and Jamie Dailey were awarded the 2026 Women's Coaching Staff of the Year to cap off an amazing day for the team.

Fuelling, Head Cross Country/Assistant Track & Field Coach at John Carroll was very pleased with the way the women competed and how much they influenced each other on a daily basis throughout the season.

"I couldn't be more happy for this group of women," emphasized Fuelling. "They have been on a mission all season long and had an incredible day. We anticipated a close race with Ohio Wesleyan and knew we were going to have to execute a great team race. On the last loop, we dug deep and fed off of each other, which was the difference. We are really excited about the regional meet and having another great opportunity ahead."

With this win, there continues to be an edge that the women will carry over these next couple of weeks as they will now prepare for their next competition at a course they competed in early September.

Next Up
The women's cross country team will travel to East Lansing, Michigan for the 2026 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships at the Forest Akers Golf Course on Saturday, November 14th. Meet information to come during that week.

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