Whitmore and Pitcovich race to All-OAC honors, Women's Cross Country takes 5th at OAC Championships
By Scott Beaton
HARTVILLE — Freshmen Elizabeth Whitmore (Mason) and Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Munroe Falls) earned All-Conference honors as the Ohio Northern women's cross country team placed fifth at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships at Sable Creek Golf Course on Saturday.
The Polar Bears (71-21 overall) scored 112 points. Ottebein won the meet for the fourth consecutive season, scoring 59 points, and Baldwin Wallace took second with 64 points.
Whitmore finished 13th of 119 finishers, completing the 6,000-meter course in 24:03.2.
Pitcovich was close behind, taking 18th in 24:09.8 to round out the All-Conference runners as the top 18 finishers receive the honor.
ONU then had a tight pack to round out the team's scorers.
Senior Kristina Myers (Grove City/Central Crossing) placed 26th in 24:46.6, junior Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) finished 27th in 24:52.8, and freshman Sophia Thompson (Sparta/Highland) crossed 28th in 24:57.7.
Sophomore Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) and senior Angie Sullivan (Medina) completed ONU's top-7, taking places 37 and 38 in 25:17.2 and 25:24.3, respectively.
"This was not a great team race out of us," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "We've been better this season than today. We did have some good individual performances, two All-OAC awards, which is great. But as a group we've been better. We'll regroup and be better in two weeks."
The Polar Bears will return to the course on Saturday, November 10, at the NCAA III Great Lakes Regional in Shelbyville, Ind.
Team Standings
1. Otterbein 59, 2. Baldwin Wallace 64, 3. Mount Union 67, 4. John Carroll 68, 5. Ohio Northern 112, 6. Heidelberg 157, 7. Muskingum 174, 8. Wilmington 249, 9. Capital 268.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Claire Lamb (Otterbein) 22:05.1, 2. Hilary Reigle (Mount Union) 22:52.9, 3. Cameron Bujaucius (John Carroll) 23:15.9, 4. Hannah Reigle (Mount Union) 23:32.0, 5. Katie Durisin (Mount Union) 23:32.2
Ohio Northern Individual Results
13. Elizabeth Whitmore 24:03.2, 18. Tessa Pitcovich 24:09.8, 26. Kristina Myers 24:46.6, 27. Kathleen Colvin 24:52.8, 28. Sophia Thompson 24:57.7, 37. Megan Wright 25:17.2, 38. Angie Sullivan 25:24.3, 39. Avery Ewing 25:26.1, 42. Chyanne Retcher 25:32.8, 46. Taylor Ellerbrock 25:43.7, 48. Kylie Vestal 25:46.6, 51. Colleen Grainger 25:54.5, 63. Michaela Fox 26:21.7, 82. Madeleine Routhier 27:19.3, 87. Elizabeth Steele 27:41.0, 92. Janelle Posthuma 28:00.3, 97. Lauren Trace 28:36.3, 98. Jocelyn Reinhart 28:40.7, 104. Karsen Bresnahan 29:28.7