“It was magical”

Ethan Wallace ’25 | Sports Editor

Track & Field wins 11th NCAC Outdoor Title in shocking fashion

Track was not supposed to win the 2025 North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships. They did it anyway. Ranked third in the pre-championship poll, the Little Giants were a long-shot for claiming the banner. But when the dust settled, Wabash had delivered a dominant win. 

“If I had to say there’s a Mount Rushmore of our championships, this one is up there,” said Head Track & Field Coach Clyde Morgan. 

The two-day NCAC Championships were held on May 3-4 at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Wabash won the meet with 172.5 points. Denison finished second with 137.5 points. And the pre-meet favorites and the eighth-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region finished third with 130.5 points. 

Heading into the meet, it wasn’t just the polls that were stacked against the Scarlet & White. In the April 25, 2025 issue of The Bachelor, Morgan said his team had “a lot of work to do and not much time.” 

“Coach Morgan and I are very realistic about we’re honest with the team about what we think we are capable of doing,” said Associate Head Track & Field Coach Tyler McCreary. “We felt like there was one team that was going to probably run away with it and win, and that we’d be scrapping for that second place position.”

In the face of all expectations, Wabash secured its 11th Outdoor NCAC Title. The meet goes down as an instant classic and extends Wabash’s outdoor title record. 

Even after the meet many have been left asking — how did this happen? 

“If I had to say there’s a Mount Rushmore of our championships, this one is up there.”

Head Track & Field Coach Clyde Morgan. 

Jumping Events: 

Maybe the catalyst for Wabash’s winning momentum, Will Morris ’25 delivered an unexpected first-place finish in pole vault. Coming back from a surgery during the winter, Morris was not on the radar for a contender. 

“There was also a moment when a Wittenberg pole vaulter asked his teammate, very audibly, before I was about to go, ‘Who the hell is this guy?’” said Morris. “That drove me even more to show them how resilient I was and how much I care for the team.”

His lifetime-best jump of 4.70 meters secured the gold finish and jump started the Little Giants – no pun intended. 

“That moment of winning the event inspired everyone to compete as hard as they could and cheer for everyone else in their events,” said Morris. “I was shocked with how well the team performed and how much heart all the guys put into cheering and competing to get the win.”

Nate Joven ’26 also scored points in the pole vault with a fourth-place finish, jumping 4.25 meters. 

Wabash didn’t score a ton of points in the triple jump, high jump or the long jump. But Wyatt Dorsey ’25 was able to sneak into tenth place for the triple jump and seventh place in the long jump. Several members of the coaching staff credit his gritty performance with inspiring the team early into the meet.

Throwing Events:

Evan Furness ’26 epitomized the Wabash victory with his win the shot put. Named NCAC Men’s Field Athlete of the Year, Furuness made an impact by coming out of nowhere to place first in shot. 

“Coming from the Indoor Conference Championship meet where I didn’t score a single point, to being named field athlete of the year was such a blessing,” said Furuness. “I’m incredibly grateful for my coaches and teammates for getting me there, because I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.”

Quinn Sholar ’26 joined the podium by finishing second with a 15.23 meter hurl. Jakob Van Pelt ’28 contributed a fifth-place finish to round out the 22 total points scored by the shot put team. 

The throwing team also took five of the top eight discus spots to cash in 22 more points for Wabash’s totals. Sholar in second, Furuness in fourth, Jordan Tate ’28 in fifth, Van Pelt in sixth and Jake Oostman ’25 in seventh will go down as one of the greatest throwing combinations in Wabash history. 

When it was all tallied up, Wabash raked in 71 points from shot put, discus, javelin and hammer throw. 

Sprints: 

Wabash sprints significantly outperformed the pre-conference expectations, bringing together a number of unexpected points for the Scarlet & White. 

Carter Leininger ’28 and Tanner Brooks ’26 qualified for the 100-meter dash finals. The pair finished fourth (10.77 seconds) and eighth (11.00 seconds), respectively. Leininger also posted a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter dash.

Wabash’s 4×100-meter relay team, which was put together at the last second, stunned the conference by finishing in fourth to secure an extra five points. Owen Smith ’26, Joven, Brooks and Leininger finished in 42.15 seconds to get their team an extra five points. 

Adding to a monster performance, Smith also finished second in the 400-meter hurdles event. His teammates touted him as one of the key performances that sent Wabash into its championship-winning frenzy. 

Distance/ Mid-Distance: 

There were fewer surprises in the distance races, as a team that has dominated all season long continued to turn in winning performances. 

Brayden Curnutt ’25 set the conference meet record in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 14:40.54. He also took gold in the 10,000-meter run, finishing in 30:38.75. He was named Distance / Mid-Distance Runner of the Year. 

“I love conference and I love competing,” said Curnutt. “Being at that meet, being able to get two wins for the team and help us bring the trophy home was really special. [The energy] was phenomenal. Everyone was engaged in what all of our athletes were doing, and it felt like no one missed a single moment of what was going on. It was an electric atmosphere and a great two days on the track for the team.”

Jacob Sitzman ’25 pushed into the top five in the 10,000-meter race to record extra points for the Little Giants. 

The regular trio of Will Neubauer ’25, Haiden Diemer-McKinney ’26 and David Anyesada ’27  dominated the 800-meter race as usual, finishing in first, second and fourth respectively. They combined for 23 of the team’s points in the single event. 

When the final score was tallied, Wabash held a commanding lead in what may be the most unexpected victory in program history. Coming off a streak of hard meets, the team was able to rally around a handful of career-defining performances to fight their way into the Wabash and NCAC history books.

“It was magical,” said Morgan. “My coaching philosophy is to get young people to do things they have never thought they could do before they did it. And they did it.”

Following the meet, Morgan, McCreary and the rest of the coaching staff were honored as the NCAC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Staff of the Year.

“This one is for the books,” said McCreary. “I’ll always remember this one. I’ve had years where I felt like I thought we’d be second, but we ended up pulling off a win. But once I really thought about it, I thought –  Okay,  that makes sense. This one was really surprising. It was more than just the performances. It was seeing how the team came together, how excited they were to compete, how excited they were for each other… Winning championships is always a lot of fun and always exciting. But this one was so different, because it wasn’t supposed to happen. But these guys did it and made it happen.”

The team dedicated the meet to Wabash legend Tom Bambrey ’68 who passed away in January. 

“[Tom Bambrey] was a big track & field fan, cross country fan and he was a fan of young people,” said Morgan. “I have to dedicate this to him, because he would have been sitting at the finish line cheering for us. And I know he’s proud. Because one thing about Tom Bambrey, he never liked anything easy. That’s why he loved WAF. So as it was happening, I just kept thinking about him. I knew he was there with us; I felt it.”