Wabash has been picked to finish fifth in the men's race at the 2019 North Coast Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships. The meet will take place Saturday, November 2, at the Northview Church cross country course in Carmel, Indiana, beginning at 11 a.m.
 
The Little Giants received a total of 50 points in the pre-championship voting by the NCAC head cross country coaches. DePauw is the favorite to win the men's conference title. The Tigers received all nine first-place votes for a total of 81 points. Denison was picked to finish second with 69 points, followed by Allegheny in third place (60 points) and Ohio Wesleyan in fourth place (55 points).
 
Wabash placed fourth at the 2018 meet, the first season under head coach Tyler McCreary. The Little Giants bring back three All-NCAC performers from that team with seniors Sam Henthorn and John Kirts along with junior Joe Deiser. Henthorn is a two-time all-conference runner and earned NCAC Men's Newcomer of the Year honors in 2016. He raced to a 12th-place finish last year with a time of 26:40.7. This season he has trimmed his top time down to 25:35.9. Kirts finished 19th in 2018 with a time of 26:56.8. His best effort this season came two weeks ago at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble where he completed the 8,000-meter course in 25:52.4. Deiser placed 20th at the 2018 meet by finishing in 26:58.6. He has only competed in one meet this season, finishing the Oberlin race in 26:27.8 only three seconds off his best career time.
 
"Sam and John have been the foundation for our team all season," McCreary said. "They've been great seniors leading by example in the way they handle themselves on a week-to-week basis. They're very consistent from a competitive standpoint. Every meet they just keep getting better. They're very confident in what they can do. The rest of our guys follow suit and watch how Sam and John do things. They should pull us through Saturday and will be two low sticks for us.
 
"We've dealt with some illness and things of that nature in the middle of the season that have not allowed us to compete at full strength. From both a training perspective and developing through competition this season, we are absolutely primed to run really well Saturday. We're a young team so this whole season has been about developing and preparing for these last two meets."
 
Clarke Criddell and Thomas Gastineau both posted season-best times at Oberlin two weeks ago and should also be in the mix Saturday for the Little Giants. Criddell finished the Oberlin race in 26:52.6. Gastineau completed the race in 26:54.6. Ethan Pine and Drew Lukens both scored for Wabash at the Oberlin meet, as well. Pine turned in his best career time earlier this year at the Louisville Classic by finishing in 26:44.00. Lukens' top time of his career came at the 2017 conference championship race with a time of 26:49.3.
 
"Clarke has made incredible strides throughout the season. I think he's ready for one more big jump this weekend. Drew is dealing with a little bit of an Achilles issue, but I think he'll be ready for Saturday. Ethan Pine and Thomas Gastineau are confident and ready to compete with some extra rest heading into the conference meet. We've been preparing for this meet. We've gone through our growing pains as a team and our ups and downs. It's timing out really well."
 
Wabash opened the past two seasons at the Northview Church course in Carmel by participating in the Butler Opener. The course has also hosted the Indiana High School Athletic Association state championship meet, along with the 2014 and 2018 Big East Cross Country Championships.
 
"We have a lot of guys who have competed at this course in high school at the Indiana state meet and some other meets. We're definitely familiar with the course having also competed there at the Butler meet to begin the season each of the past two years. We know the general outline of the course, where some of the best spots are to make some moves, and where the rolling hills are that can help us. But cross country is cross country. Everyone will run on the same course, so I don't think there is a huge competitive advantage."
 
Saturday's competition begins with the women's 6,000-meter race at 11 a.m. followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 11:45 a.m. The awards ceremony will take place at 1 p.m.