Season Review: Women's Cross Country captures 17th successive upper-division finish in Ohio Athletic Conference during 2018 campaign

By Blake Moore

ADA — The Ohio Northern women's cross country program registered its 17th consecutive OAC upper-division finish and wound up 10th in a 33-team field at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional, headlining the 2018 campaign under 10th-year head coach Jason Maus.

Additionally, ONU would compile a 94-30 overall record, their second consecutive winning season. With this season's record, Northern has posted 90-or-more wins in four of their last six seasons.

The Polar Bears posted 112 team points to end fifth at this year's conference championships held at Sable Creek Golf Course in Hartville, Ohio. Meanwhile, freshmen student-athletes Elizabeth Whitmore (Mason) and Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Munroe Falls) crossed the tape among the top-18 to secure All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors.

Whitmore completed the 6,000-meter course in 24:03.2 to place 13th overall and top the team's individual efforts while Pitcovich notched an 18th-place effort in 24:09.8. The duo would receive All-OAC Second-Team honors for their performances, the first conference honors in their respective careers.

The former would go on to receive United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region honors after finishing 32nd at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional in Shelbyville, Indiana, guiding the Polar Bears to 297 points and a 10th-place team effort. Her 22:58 clocking stands fourth all-time among freshman runners at Ohio Northern and ranks 14th overall in school history.

Senior teammate Avery Ewing (Kokomo, Ind./Eastern) also broke into the school record books during the event. She would end 50th overall and second on the team with a 23:17 mark, which ranks 17th-fastest all-time.

In addition, the Polar Bears placed six athletes on the 2018 Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference teams. Seniors Kristina Myers (Grove City/Central Crossing), Elizabeth Steele (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol), and Angie Sullivan (Medina), junior Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready), and sophomores Kylie Vestal (Youngstown/Austintown-Fitch) and Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) were each honored for their classroom achievements following the season's conclusion.

Myers, Steele, and Sullivan each received Academic All-OAC kudos for the third consecutive season.

Myers, a senior studying biology/biochemistry, finished among the team's top-seven finishers in all seven races and set a career-best 23:58 6k time at the All-Ohio Championships. She concluded her collegiate career having competed in 22 varsity-level races with 12 career top-seven results.

Steele, an exercise physiology student from Tempe, Arizona, has competed in 19 career races for the Polar Bears, including five during the 2018 regular season. She finished her four-year stay at Ohio Northern with a career-best 21:14 5k clocking set in 2017 and an all-time best of 26:08 in the 6k, which she clocked at the 2016 OAC Championships.

Sullivan, a senior civil engineering major, completed her career appearing in five varsity races and posting two top-seven finishes during the 2018 season. The Medina native claimed her fastest 6k time in 24:23 at the 2016 OAC Championships and finished her career with 22 varsity race appearances and five top-seven results.

Colvin, a junior studying nursing and public health, garnered her second straight award after receiving the accolade in 2017.

In her three seasons, Colvin has competed in 18 career varsity-level races, including all seven during the 2018 campaign. She was among the team's top-seven finishers at all seven races this year and set a new personal-best 6k time with a 23:57 finish at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional to conclude the season.

Meanwhile, Vestal and Wright each picked up their first conference academic award with the announcement.

Vestal, a sophomore studying forensic biology, has competed in nine varsity races during her first two seasons as a Polar Bear. In 2018, she raced to career-best times in the 5k (20:29) and the 6k (25:17) events at the Wilmington Invitational and All-Ohio Championships open race, respectively.

Wright, a sophomore biology student-athlete, has competed in all 14 varsity-level races in her career and finished among the team's top-seven finishers at each event. She posted a career-best time of 23:27 in the 6k during the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional this season.

As a team, the Polar Bears would capture two event titles during the 2018 campaign, the Bluffton 5k Invitational and the Blue River Park Memorial College Invitational crowns.

They would also race to a pair of fifth-place finishes at the All-Ohio Championships and the Wilmington Invitational. Northern recorded a top-10 team performance at the highly-competitive Calvin (Mich.) Knight Invitational in a loaded 25-team field, rounding out their regular season results.

"The women's group was really young, and after losing your top-two athletes from last season, you become unsure what the expectations for the season should be. There were many times this season where we scored several freshmen and sophomores in a race," head coach Jason Maus explained. "This group got better and developed well throughout the season."

"The conference meet did not go real well for this group, but we turned it around two weeks later at the regional meet. Regionals went well for us, and as the team continues to develop their roles and learn the program's expectations, we will be alright moving forward."