Steinbrunner wins individual title as Women's Cross Country finishes 2nd at Great Lakes Regional Championships
Junior All-American Alison Steinbrunner won the individual title, leading the No. 17-ranked Ohio Northern to a second place finish out of 36 teams at the 2011 NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships at Oberlin on Saturday.
With their second place finish, the Polar Bears (121-10) receive an automatic bid to the NCAA III Championships next Saturday at Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Steinbrunner finished the 6,000-meter course in 21:27, a full six seconds ahead of the field to win the first ever Regional individual title in ONU women's ross country history.
Four other Polar Bears earned All-Region honors with top-35 finishes in the 251-woman field.
Senior Kelly Casanova finished 11th in 22:10, senior Lydia Weaver was 25th in 22:26, senior Ashley Baumer was 30th in 22:33 and freshman Shayla Siefker was 32nd in 22:34.
No. 9-ranked Calvin (Mich.) won the team title with 69 points, ONU was second with 96, No. 13 Hope was third with 99 points and No. 18 Oberlin was fourth with 103 points.
Team Standings
1. #9 Calvin (Mich.) 69, 2. #17 Ohio Northern 96, 3. #13 Hope (Mich.) 99, 4. #18 Oberlin 103, 5. Case Western Reserve 208, 6. John Carroll 303, 7. Baldwin-Wallace 312, 8. DePauw (Ind.) 323, 9. Ohio Wesleyan 334, 10. Albion (Mich.) 334, 11. Wittenberg 355, 12. Kenyon 401, 13. Wilmington 402, 14. Mount Union 426, 15. Alma (Mich.) 447, t16. Franciscan 457, t16. Wooster, 457, 18. Otterbein 472, 19. Adrian (Mich.) 477, 20. Denison 501, 21. Hanover (Ind.) 507, 22. St. Mary's (Ind.) 522, 23. Franklin (Ind.) 581, 24. Manchester (Ind.) 592, 25. Kalamazoo (Mich.) 599, 26. Heidelberg 726, 27. Anderson (Ind.) 834, 28. Bluffton 845, 29. Marietta 847, 30. Trine (Ind.) 848, 31. Earlham (Ind.) 866, 32. Defiance 880, 33. Transylvania (Ky.) 933, 34. Mount Saint Joseph 1068, 35. Olivet (Mich.) 1125, 36. Hiram 1172.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Alison Steinbrunner (ONU) 21:27, 2. Jodi Hoekstra (Cal) 21:33, 3. Molly Martorella (Ober) 21:41, 4. Sheri McCormick (Hope) 21:46, 5. Jenna Willett (Ken) 21:50.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
1. Alison Steinbrunner 21:27, 11. Kelly Casanova 22:10, 25. Lydia Weaver 22:26, 30. Ashley Baumer 22:33, 32. Shayla Siefker 22:34, 46. Mallory Bloom 22:53, 61. Amanda Binkey 23:13.