Women's Cross Country places 6th of 16 teams at All-Ohio Championships
By Tim Glon
CEDARVILLE — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team raced at the All-Ohio Championships on Saturday afternoon at the King Cross Country Course.
The Polar Bears (20-6 overall) finished sixth of 16 NCAA Division III teams and were 14th of 35 teams with 398 points overall.
Junior teammate Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) led ONU with a 14th place finish out of 127 Division III runners in 23:51 on the 6,000-meter course.
Sophomore Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) was 21st in 24:11, junior Kylie Vestal (Youngstown/Austintown-Finch) was 30th in 24:33, senior Madeleine Routhier (West Unity/Hilltop) was 35th in 24:40 and senior Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) was 42nd in 24:47.
Kenyon's Emma Becker finished first among Division III runners in 23:51.
No. 17-ranked Oberlin won the team title with 50 points. No. 25 Case Western Reserve was second with 67 points, No. 22 Baldwin Wallace was third with 73 points and Otterbein was fourth with 94 points.
Ohio Northern finished ahead of No. 31 John Carroll and NCAA Division II schools Shawnee State, Ashland, Findlay, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Tiffin, Ursuline and Urbana.
The Polar Bears return to competition Oct. 5 at the Louisville (Ky.) Classic.
Team Standings
1. #15 Oberlin 50, 2. #25 Case Western Reserve 67, 3. #22 Baldwin Wallace 73, 4. Otterbein 94, 5. Kenyon 112, 6. Ohio Northern 139, 7. #31 John Carroll 200, 8. Wooster 251, 9. Denison 308, 10. Wilmington 315, 11. Ohio Wesleyan 328, 12. Franciscan 335, 13. Wittenberg 337, 14. Bluffton 360, 15. Capital 440, 16. Muskingum 514.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Emma Becker (Kenyon) 22:44, 2. Oona Jung-Beeman (Denison) 23:23, 3. Alyssa Laughner (BW) 23:30, 4. Sydney Smith (Otterbein) 23:36, 5. Isabelle Hoover (Wooster) 23:41.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
14. Megan Wright 23:51, 21. Tessa Pitcovich 24:11, 30. Kylie Vestal 24:35, 35. Madeleine Routhier 24:40, 42. Kathleen Colvin 24:47, 51. Chyanne Retcher 25:02, 56. Rue Whitmore 25:18, 81. Taylor Ellerbrock 26:31, 84. Michaela Fox 26:40.