Season Review: Men’s Cross Country displays growth, improvement in 2022

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — The Ohio Northern men's cross country team had a successful 2022 season, placing in the top half of all seven of its varsity meets and finishing with a record of 111-37 under 14th-year head coach Jason Maus.

"Overall, this was a pretty solid season for us," Maus said. "We saw some really good growth and improvement. We took a good step forward with our commitment level and saw a lot of our hard work pay off."

The Polar Bears opened the season strong, posting back-to-back first-place finishes at the Polar Bear Invitational and Wittenberg Invitational before wrapping up September with a third-place showing at the Rochester (N.Y.) Invitational.

Northern placed 18th of 36 teams at the Pre-NCAA Meet and rounded out the regular season with a seventh-place finish of 32 teams at the Oberlin Regional Rumble.

The Polar Bears proceeded to post their 19th straight upper-division finish at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and 18th consecutive top-10 finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals, placing fifth in the former and ninth in the latter.

"The OAC meet was one of our best races of the season. We competed really well and raced tough on a very challenging course in a really good conference," Maus said. "We were really inexperienced on the regional level, as only two of our men had run a regional meet before. So we learned what it takes to be competitive at that level and will have to improve to continue to be successful at that meet."

Junior Kyle Roth (Rockford/Parkway) and senior Breydan Hann (Wooster) both earned All-OAC honors, finishing 13th and 16th, respectively, at the OAC Championships.

Roth was the first Polar Bear across the finish line at six of the team's seven events and had three top-10 finishes overall. He ran a team-best 26:58 at the OAC Championships and was Northern's top finisher at the regional meet, placing 47th with a personal-best time of 25:18 on the 8,000-meter course.

"Kyle had an unbelievable end of the season. He really put together some good races the last few weeks," Maus said. "He took a big step forward in being competitive at a high level."

Hann, meanwhile, was among the top three ONU finishers in six events. He was the second Polar Bear across the finish line at the OAC Championships, running a time of 27:07, and was third among ONU runners at the regional meet, posting a personal-best time of 25:27.

"Breydan had a very solid season. His best race was at the OAC Championships," Maus said. "We leaned on him a lot this year, and he stepped up to the challenge."

Sophomore Trey Masterson (Tiffin/Hopewell Loudon) joined Roth and Hann as Northern's three most consistent performers this season. He led Northern with a fifth-place finish at the Wittenberg Invitational and was top-three among ONU runners in five events. He ran a time of 27:39 to place 30th overall at the OAC Championships and finished 72nd at the NCAA Regionals with a personal-best time of 25:32.

"Trey was very consistent this fall," Maus said. "We knew every week where he was going to be and what type of race we were going to get out of him."

Sophomore Ryan Massie (Beavercreek) also posted solid showings in the postseason, finishing third and second, respectively, among ONU runners at the conference and regional meets. He finished 25th overall at the OACs with a time of 27:28 and ran a personal-best 25:27 for a 63rd-place finish at regionals.

"Ryan's performances the last two races were fantastic," Maus said. "His best race was the regional meet, and he was a major reason why we were able to stay in the top 10 of the region."

Sophomore Corey Rinehart (Galena/Olentangy Berlin) and juniors Jared Swartz (Columbia Station/Columbia) and Braden Schaser (Fostoria/Lakota) rounded out ONU's top seven finishers at the NCAA Regionals, placing 103rd, 107th and 121st, respectively, with times of 26:01, 26:03 and 26:18 that were all personal-bests.

That trio was joined by juniors Ian Ackenhausen (Xenia/Legacy Christian Academy) and Aaron Guzman (Lebanon) as top-seven finishers among ONU runners in multiple events in 2022.

The Polar Bears also succeeded in the classroom this season, earning a program-record 15 Academic All-OAC selections, which was tops among OAC schools.

That list included Roth, Hann, Masterson, Massie, Rinehart, Swartz and Ackenhausen along with seniors Brooks Blakeley (Versailles), Skylar Dawson (West Salem/Northwestern) and Connor Lamison (Cranberry Township, Pa./Beaver Area) and sophomores Blake Abbott (Canton/Central Catholic), J.T. Basco (Painesville/Thomas W. Harvey), Donovan Brown (Botkins), Keefer McClure (Toledo/Ottawa Hills) and Justin Pate (Vincent/Warren).

Hann and Blakeley are now three-year Academic All-OAC honorees, and Roth, Swartz, Ackenhausen, Dawson and Lamison each earned the honor for a second time in their careers.

With several talented runners returning in 2023, Maus is excited to see what next season has in store for his team.

"Most of our top 10 guys are back for next year, so we're excited to build off of the momentum we started this season," Maus said. "We'll have to continue to work and find ways to improve to stay competitive within the OAC and region."