Pitcovich, Schatzle named All-Region in Women’s Outdoor Track and Field by USTFCCCA

By Wes Mayberry 

| 2022 USTFCCCA Outdoor Track and Field All-Region Team |

ADA — Ohio Northern senior Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) and junior Anna Schatzle (Brookville, Ind./Franklin County) were named All-Great Lakes Region in women's outdoor track and field for 2022 by the USTFCCCA.

To earn All-Region honors, athletes must rank in the top five in their region in their respective event on the final TFRRS list. In addition, each member of a region's top three relay teams was also selected for distinction.

Pitcovich was an All-Region performer in the 10,000 meters, and Schatzle earned All-Region status in the pole vault.

This marks Schatzle's second All-Region accolade this season, joining the one she earned in the indoor pole vault.

Schatzle was the OAC champion in the outdoor pole vault this season and qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault.

She cleared a height of 3.72 meters in the indoor pole vault at the Polar Bear Final Qualifier on March 4 to rank fifth all-time at ONU and entered the national meet as the No. 19 seed. She went on to post the fourth-best mark in program history in the outdoor pole vault with a height of 3.75 meters at the St. Francis (Ill.) Fighting Chance Invitational on May 14 to qualify as the No. 19 seed at the national meet, where she placed 20th.

Pitcovich, a two-time national qualifier in cross country, qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 10,000 meters this season after posting a personal-best time of 36:08.18 at the OAC Championships on May 5. That time ranked 27th nationally and is second all-time at ONU. She ran a time of 37:24.44 at the national meet and finished 17th.

Pitcovich was an All-OAC performer in the indoor 3,000 and 5,000 meters and outdoor 5,000 and 10,000 meters this season. She was named the OAC Scholar-Athlete of the Month for June and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District 7 First Team and All-American Second Team selection for women's cross country and track and field.

In addition to her second-best all-time mark in the outdoor 10,000 meters, Pitcovich ranks second at ONU in the outdoor 5,000 meters (17:37.72) and third in both the indoor 3,000 meters (10:14.14) and 5,000 meters (17:36.37).

The Polar Bears finished 26-7 overall and third at the OAC Championships indoors and 16-4 overall and third at the OAC Championships outdoors during the 2022 season under 13th-year head coach Jason Maus.