Fall Preview: Men’s Cross Country Will Look To Step Up In Vital Roles In First Season With NCAC

8/28/2025 9:13:00 PM | By: Jamie Dailey '22, SID Assistant

Men's Cross Country Come Into 2025 Ranked 28th In Division III

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio – The cross country season has arrived for the Blue Streaks.

After being on campus for three weeks now, the men have geared towards competing on the grass and are eager to get things started for the Blue & Gold.

As they embark on their first season with the North Coast Athletic Conference, the goal has always been to compete for championships at any level. That goal has always remained the same.

In 2024, the men secured their fourth straight conference championship, being a part of the Ohio Athletic Conference with seven runners earning All-Conference honors. At the Great Lakes Regional Championships, they placed second overall with four runners earning All-Region and earning an at-large bid to the 2024 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana. The team placed 30th overall as a team.

Coach Steve Fuelling, Head Cross Country/Assistant Track & Field Coach returns for his first full season with the Blue Streaks after being hired in October 2024 and is looking forward to what this year will bring for the team with Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Daniel Tutskey coming back for his sixth season.

After losing five key seniors in the top seven including Ryan Champa, Dominic Delmoro, Barrett Scheatzle, Tommy Naiman and Aidan Stone the men have their minds set on filling those key roles throughout the season and leaning on some athletes who have that experience.

One of those athletes who returns this year for the Blue Streaks will be senior Ian Paul. His last cross country season was cut short due to injury and he'll look to be a major contributor on the grass, gearing up for his final year.

Another athlete that will look to represent in the upper pack will be junior Nate Julien. He is coming off of a promising cross country season, where he earned Second-Team All-OAC honors at the conference championship meet, where he placed 17th overall. In his first appearance at the regional championships, Julien was JCU's fourth runner, placing 24th overall to earn his first All-Region accolade.

Senior Jett Wieber brings lots of leadership and skill to this young group as he looks to pick up where he left off last year, placing high at both the conference and regional championship meets.

One person to keep an eye out on is sophomore Sam Su. He will be one of the top runners that is looking to take that next step and was the only first year to represent the Blue Streaks at the NCAA Championships. Su is coming off of an All-Conference cross country season in 2024.

Junior Phil Coury and Sophomore Joey Naiman have shown consistency and improvement and will provide much needed depth for the group heading into 2025.

"The men bring a lot of unknowns," Tutskey mentioned. "We have a young group with leadership that is steady with Ian Paul, Max Grillo and Jett Wieber."

Coach Tutskey also talks about the rise of the underclassmen who have potential of bringing that uprising.

"You mix that with the emergence of Nate Julien and Sam Su and we have the making of something special. Time will tell as this group learns and grows together throughout the season."

Announced by the USTFCCCA (U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association) this past Tuesday and Wednesday, the men entered the 2025 season ranked 28th in Division III and second in the Great Lakes Region in the preseason rankings.

The men will make their 2025 season debut at the Bill Sudeck Invitational hosted by Case Western Reserve University at the Squire Valleevue and Hunting Valley Ridge Farms in Hunting Valley, Ohio on Friday, August 29th. The men's 6k will kick off at 6:15 pm. Meet information and live results will be posted on the website before the day of the meet.

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