Elizabeth Whitmore earns All-Region honors as Women's Cross Country ends 10th at NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional
By Blake Moore
SHELBYVILLE, Ind. — Freshman Elizabeth Whitmore (Mason) wound up 32nd overall to capture All-Great Lakes Region honors, guiding the Ohio Northern women's cross country program to a top-10 team finish at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regionals held at Blue River Memorial Park in Shelbyville, Indiana on Saturday morning.
The Polar Bears (94-30 overall) claimed 10th place in a 33-team field with 297 team points in the 6k championship event. Meanwhile, fellow OAC institution Baldwin Wallace secured the team title with 114 points while Allegheny (Pa.) took second with 121 points, earning both team automatic-qualifying bids to next weekend's NCAA Championships in Winneconne, Wisconsin.
Whitmore paced the Northern efforts after crossing the tape in 22:58.6. Her time would place her among the top-35 overall finishers, the cut-off for All-Region honors.
Senior Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) would follow the first-year to the finish line in 50th, ending her cross country career with a 23:17.9 clocking.
Sophomore Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) and freshman Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Munroe Falls) wound up third and fourth on the team, respectively. The former clocked a 23:27.5 to finish 60th overall while the latter took 69th in 23:37.2.
Junior Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) completed the scoring for the Polar Bears with a 23:57.6 effort. She would end fifth on the team and 87th overall in the competition.
Sophomore Chyanne Retcher (Ney/Fairview) and senior Kristina Myers (Grove City/Central Crossing) ended 89th and 102nd overall, respectively, to round out the finishers for Ohio Northern.
Senior Otterbein runner and 2018 OAC Champion Claire Lamb won the individual event title with a 20:58.7 clocking, which set a new course record.
"Our women's race was really good today. Much better team performance than two weeks ago," head coach Jason Maus stated. "They executed their race plans and did a great job bouncing back. This will give us some good momentum heading into next season."
Team Standings
1. Baldwin Wallace 114, 2. Allegheny (Pa.) 121, 3. Oberlin 124, 4. Hope (Mich.) 138, 5. Calvin (Mich.) 141, 6. Otterbein 182, 7. Mount Union 205, 8. Case Western Reserve 224, 9. John Carroll 262, 10. Ohio Northern 297, 11. Trine (Ind.) 307, 12. Manchester (Ind.) 404, 13. Kenyon 411, 14. DePauw (Ind.) 431, 15. Heidelberg 432, 16. Rose-Hulman (Ind.) 487, 17. Wooster 497, 18. Bluffton 500, 19. Ohio Wesleyan 509, 20. Hanover (Ind.) 519, 21. Albion (Mich.), 22. Wittenberg 572, 23. Earlham (Ind.) 631, 24. Denison 661, 25. Muskingum 688, 26. St. Mary's (Ind.) 692, 27. Kalamazoo (Mich.) 701, 28. Alma (Mich.) 806, 29. Anderson (Ind.) 847, 30. Spalding (Ky.) 872, 31. Franklin (Ind.) 894, 32. Transylvania (Ky.) 982, 33. Olivet (Mich.) 1021
Top 5 Individuals
1. Claire Lamb (Otterbein) 20:58.7, 2. Emily Forner (Allegheny) 21:12.4, 3. Cassie Vince (Albion) 21:20.1, 4. Katie Diekema (Calvin) 21:41.0, 5. Hilary Reigle (Mount Union) 21:47.9
Ohio Northern Individual Results
32. Elizabeth Whitmore 22:58.6, 50. Avery Ewing 23:17.9, 60. Megan Wright 23:27.5, 69. Tessa Pitcovich 23:37.2, 87. Kathleen Colvin 23:57.6, 89. Chyanne Retcher 24:00.3, 102. Kristina Myers 24:08.5
