McVey and Molinaro finish 1-2, lead No. 19 Men's Cross Country to third consecutive OAC Championship
By Caleb Scott
TIFFIN — For the first time in school history, the Ohio Northern men's cross country team claimed its third consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Championship as junior Ian McVey (Stow/Munroe Falls) claimed the OAC Individual title and senior Matt Molinaro (Sterling Heights, Mich./De La Salle) finished as the runner up to lead the Polar Bears.
The Polar Bears (80-17 overall) won the team title with 33 team points, while Mount Union was second with 61 points and John Carroll rounded out the top-3 with 64 points.
Ohio Northern claimed three of the top-5 individual finishes in the race.
McVey won the individual title in 25:04.3 to lead ONU across the finish line, while Molinaro claimed second place in 25:09.6 and senior Bobby Borger (Perrysburg) finished fifth overall in 25:23.2.
Mcvey, Molinaro and Borger all earned First Team All-OAC kudos for their efforts.
Northern saw two more athletes earn All-OAC honors as senior Sam Boyd (Killbuck/West Holmes) and junior Spencer Schulze (St. Henry) finished 12th and 13th overall to earn Second Team All-OAC honors.
"This was a great team race for our men," said head coach Jason Maus. "Those front five guys for us are really experienced and did a really good job setting the tone today. Our guys were really prepared for today and worked really hard to perform this well. Winning conference is always a very big accomplishment but to be the first team in school history to do it three times in a row really makes it a great feeling. I'm really proud of this team and the way they fought today."
The Polar Bears return to action on Nov. 11 at 11 am as they compete in the NCAA III Great Lakes Region Meet in Powell, Ohio.
Team Standings
1. #19 Ohio Northern 33, 2. Mount Union 61, 3. John Carroll 64, 4. Otterbein 85, 5. Baldwin Wallace 130, 6. Heidelberg 140, 7. Capital 227, 8. Wilmington 235, 9. Muskingum 270
Top-5 Individuals
1. Ian McVey (ONU) 25:04.3, 2. Matt Molinaro (ONU) 25:09.6, 3. Austin Neura (Heidelberg) 25:13.3, 4. Matt Andrews (JCU) 25:19.8, 5. Bobby Borger (ONU) 25:23.2
Ohio Northern Individual Results
1. Ian McVey 25:04.3, 2. Matt Molinaro 25:09.6, 5. Bobby Borger 25:23.2, 12. Sam Boyd 25:47.7, 13. Spencer Schulze 25:52.1, 42. Travis Sutter 27:11.1, 43. Jordan Green 27:11.3, 50. John McNutt 27:26.7, 63. Logan Perry 27:43.0, 68. Riley Lamison 27:44.3, 69. Alec Lunney 27:44.9, 76. Dylan McKean 27:56.0, 80. Evan Murtha 28:04.9, 81. Bryan Peck 28:06.2, 86. Tyler Kennedy 28:17.7, 96. Sam Krabacher 28:40.0, 98. Jack Borden 28:42.7, 100. Alessandro Tramontano 28:47.6, 105. Kyle Neff 28:54.0, 108. Michael Murray 29:01.7, 110. Nicholas DeVore 29:11.4, 115. Griffin Skaff 29:43.1, 116. Jacob Gallaher 29:44.5, 130. Jackson Brandstaetter 30:46.1, 132. Dustin Lumadue 31:24.0,
