Women's Cross Country takes 13th of 37 teams at shortened Louisville Classic

By Scott Beaton

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team placed 13th of 37 teams in a wild 3.9-kilometer race on Saturday at the Lousiville Classic.

The race was intended to be six kilometers, but after a gate was opened at the wrong time due to a lapped runner in a previous race, the lead runners were veered onto an alternate, incorrect course.

Race officials elected to use the split times at the 3.9-kilometer mark as final, official results.

"The women handled the adversity really well," 11th-year head coach Jason Maus. "This race builds momentum for us as we head further into October."

ONU (44-18 overall) placed 13th with 342 points. MIT won the race with 43 points while Oberlin was second with 115 points.

Junior Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) and sophomore Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Munroe Falls) led the way for the Polar Bears.

Wright was 31st in 14:25.7 and Pitcovich was 32nd in 14:26.0 in the 254-runner field.

Senior Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) finished 76th in 14:49.0 while junior Kylie Vestal (Youngstown/Austintown-Fitch) was 100th in 15:02.6.

Northern's scoring was closed by senior Madeleine Routhier (West Unity/Hilltop), who placed 103rd in 15:03.4.

Sophomore Rue Whitmore (Mason) was 131st in 15:26.5 and junior Chyanne Retcher (Ney/Fairview) was 138th in 15:32.6 to round out ONU's racers.

Ohio Northern returns to the course on Oct. 19 at the Oberlin Rumble.

Team Standings

1. MIT 43, 2. Oberlin 115, 3. St. Thomas (Minn.) 192, 4. Hope (Mich.) 202, 5. RPI (N.Y.) 208, 6. Baldwin Wallace 217, 7. John Carroll 219, 8. Case Western 231, 9. Centre (Ky.) 266, 10. UC Santa Cruz (Calif.) 302, 11. Emory (Ga.) 305, 12. Otterbein 313, 13. Ohio Northern 342, 14. Wis.-La Crosse 396, 15. Mount Union 410, 16. Rhodes 487, 17 Hanover (Ind.) 488, 18. Connecticut College 494, 19. PSU-Behrend 531, 20. DePauw (Ind.) 536, 21. Manchester (Ind.) 537, 22. Trine (Ind.) 582, 23. St. Mary's (Ind.) 669, 24. Lynchburg (Tenn.) 672, 25. Colorado College 733, 26. Berea 759, 27. La Verne (Calif.) 804, 28. University of the South (Tenn.) 827, 29. Maryville (Tenn.) 874, 30. Kalamazoo (Mich.) 892, 31. Roanoke (Va.) 918, 32. Covenant (Ga.) 943, 33. Piedmont (Ga.) 952, 34. Earlham (Ind.) 1010, 35. Franklin 1080, 36. Transylvania (Ky.) 1119, 37. Mount St. Joseph 1137

Top 5 Individuals

1. Katie Collins (MIT) 13:50.1, 2. Kelly Brennan (Baldwin Wallace) 13:55.5, 3. Anastasia Tucker (Hope) 14:05.5, 4. Oona Jung-Beeman (Oberlin) 14:05.7, 5. Evie Bultemeyer (Trine) 14:06.3

Ohio Northern Results

31. Megan Wright 14:25.7, 32. Tessa Pitcovich 14:26.0, 76. Kathleen Colvin 14:49.0, 100. Kylie Vestal 15:02.6, 103. Madeleine Routhier 15:03.4, 131. Rue Whitmore 15:26.5, 138. Chyanne Retcher 15:32.6