Women's Cross Country finishes 5th of 35 at Wilmington Jenna Strong Invitational
By Tim Glon
WILMINGTON — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team finished fifth of 35 teams at the Wilmington Jenna Strong Invitational on Friday afternoon at the Wilmington Cross Country Course.
The Polar Bears (67-17 overall) finished with 206 points and were first of the 13 NCAA Division III schools. ONU also defeated all 15 of the NCAA Division II and NAIA schools.
NCAA Division I schools finished in the top four places, with Ball State edging Northern Kentucky 48-61 for the team title.
Freshman Elizabeth Whitmore (Mason) led a tight pack for Ohio Northern, which saw its top seven runners separated by only 22 seconds.
Whitmore was 36th overall out of 308 runners in 19:22 for the 5,000-meter race.
Sophomore Chyanne Retcher (Ney/Fairview) and senior Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) were 44th and 45th in 19:30 and 19:33, respectively.
Sophomore Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) was 50th in 19:38 and senior Kristina Myers (Grove City/Central Crossing) was 52nd in 19:39.
Junior Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) and freshman Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) also figured into the scoring with top-7 finishes for ONU.
Colvin was 54th in 19:40 and Pitcovich was 56th in 19:44
"The women ran a great race today," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "We beat 30 teams and only lost to NCAA Division I schools. Our pack was fantastic and we were very strong throughout the race."
Anna Brandt of Cleveland State won the race in 17:55.
The Polar Bears will take a week off before returning to action Oct. 27 with the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships at Mount Union.
Team Standings
1. Ball State 46, 2. Northern Kentucky 61, 3. Cleveland State 135, 4. Miami (Ohio) 164, 5. Ohio Northern 206, 6. Mount Vernon Nazarene 224, 7. Shawnee State 258, 8. Ashland 263, 9. Wooster 311, 10. Muskingum 321, 11. Hanover (Ind.) 322, 12. Huntington (Ind.) 357, 13. Ohio Christian 373, 14. Indiana East 395, 15. Indiana-Kokomo 459, 16. Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 467, 17. Ohio State Running Club 523, 18. Georgetown (Ky.) 534, 19. Ohio Valley 574, 20. Wilmington 597, 21. Lourdes 609, 22. Cuyhaoga CC 640, 23. Anderson (Ind.) 661, 24. Franklin (Ind.) 692, 25. Cincinnati Christian 724, 26. Spalding (Ky.) 735, 27. Ohio Dominican 752, 28. Cincinnati Running Club 756, 29. Mount Saint Joseph 758, 30. Capital 774, 31. Ursuline 774, 32. Transylvania (ky.) 811, 33. Wittenberg 852, 34. Urbana 1081, 35. Central State 1087.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Anna Brandt (Cleveland State) 17:55, 2. Hannah Tobler (N.Kentucky) 18:12, 3. Mariah Jordan (Unattached) 18:15, 4. Elyse Black (N.Kentucky) 18:27, 5. Hannah Santoni (Unattached) 18:27.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
36. Elizabeth Whitmore 19:22, 44. Chyanne Retcher 19:30, 45. Avery Ewing 19:33, 50. Megan Wright 19:38, 52. Kristina Myers 19:39, 54. Kathleen Colvin 19:40, 56. Tessa Pitcovich 19:41, 60. Sophia Thompson 19:49, 70. Angie Sullivan 19:55, 77. Taylor Ellerbrock 20:12, 97. Kylie Vestal 20:29, 99. Colleen Grainger 20:31, 114. Michaela Fox 20:55, 150. Elizabeth Steele 21:34, 166. Madeleine Routhier 21:49, 176. Janelle Posthuma 21:58, 189. Lauren Trace 22:14, 206. Jocelyn Reinhart 22:36, 225. Karsen Bresnahan 23:13.
