Cross Country: Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) at Bluffton 6k

Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, 6:45 pm, Bluffton Nature Preserve, Bluffton, Ohio

ONU Race Notes: Ohio Northern will open its 2016 season at the Bluffton 6k race at the Bluffton Nature Preserve in Bluffton, Ohio ... The women will run a 5k race at 6 pm with the men following with a 6k race at 6:45 pm ... Eighth year head coach Jason Maus looks to lead the Polar Bears as they return eight lettermen, and look to repeat as Ohio Athletic Conference champions for the second consecutive season ... The Polar Bears posted a 134-9 record last season, which was the most wins under Maus' seven-year reign as head coach ... Northern will look to its upperclassmen to carry the load this season as the squad looks to compete for another OAC Championship ... Leading the list of returners is senior Kase Schalois, who is a 2015 First Team All-OAC honoree and had seven top-7 finishes for ONU last season ... Senior Andrew Harden, who also earned First Team All-OAC honors, returns for Northern and recorded seven top-7 finishes during the 2015 campaign ... Junior Bobby Borger rounds out the returning First Team All-OAC honorees after finishing seventh at the OAC Championships in 2015 and posting four top-7 finishes ... Also returning for the Polar Bears after solid 2015 campaigns is sophomore Ian McVey, junior Matt Molinaro and senior Aaren Hemmelgarn who each garnered Second Team All-OAC acolades a season ago ... Spencer Schulze returns to the team after lettering in 2015.

Head Coach Jason Maus: Maus is in his 8th season as head coach with a 738-156
record, a winning percentage of .826.