Senior Tessa Pitcovich named Division III All-Ohio Female Runner of the Year

By Wes Mayberry

| 2021 All-Ohio Award Winners (.pdf) |

ADA — Ohio Northern senior Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) has been named the NCAA Division III All-Ohio Female Runner of the Year for the 2021 season.

This marks the first such honor for an ONU women's cross country runner since Emily Richards earned the accolade in the 2017 season.

Award winners are determined based on runners' performances at the 2021 All-Ohio meet and throughout the entire cross country season. 

Pitcovich led the Polar Bears across the finish line at all six of their meets in 2021, including her sixth-place finish of 93 Division III runners at the 2021 All-Ohio meet.

Pitcovich closed the season by earning All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors as the runner-up at the conference meet to go with her All-Great Lakes Region accolade for placing fifth at the regional meet with a time of 22:08.

Her time at the regional meet is fourth-fastest in program history and qualified her for the NCAA Division III Championships for the second time in her career.

The three-time All-OAC and two-time All-Great Lakes Region honoree finished 139th out of 293 runners at the national meet with a time of 22:41.

Pitcovich also earned the prestigious Elite 90 award for NCAA Division III women's cross country, becoming the first female student-athlete, and fourth overall, at ONU to receive the accolade. The Elite 90 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.

Led by Pitcovich, the Polar Bears (95-31 overall) posted their 19th consecutive top-five finish at the conference meet and fourth straight top-10 finish at regionals, placing third and seventh, respectively.