Women’s Cross Country has 2 top-8 finishers and places 5th of 11 teams at All-Ohio Championships
By Wes Mayberry
CEDARVILLE — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team raced at the All-Ohio Championships on Friday afternoon at the King Cross Country Course.
The Polar Bears (8-5) finished fifth of 11 teams among the Division III schools, scoring 110 points.
Overall, ONU was 15th of 28 teams with 403 points, placing ahead of Division I Cleveland State and Division II/NAIA schools Ashland, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Tiffin and Lake Erie.
Senior Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Munroe Falls) led the Polar Bears with a sixth-place finish of 93 Division III runners in 23:46 on the 6,000-meter course.
Senior Taylor Ellerbrock (Columbus Grove) was eighth in 24:10, senior Rue Whitmore (Mason) was 22nd in 24:41, freshman Bailey Kreft (Sunbury/Buckeye Valley) was 33rd in 25:37, junior Lexi Neff (Northfield/Walsh Jesuit) was 43rd in 26:11, freshman Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge) was 45th in 26:36 and sophomore Sydney Goodrich (Romeo, Mich.) was 51st in 26:48.
Otterbein's Sydney Smith finished first among Division III runners in 22:54.
No. 18-ranked John Carroll won the Division III team title with 51 points. Case Western Reserve was second with 74 points, Otterbein was third with 102 points and Wooster was fourth with 109 points.
Ohio Northern's next race is the Findlay Oiler Invite, which is set for Friday, Sept. 24, at 4:30 p.m.
Team Standings
1. #18 John Carroll 51, 2. Case Western Reserve 74, 3. Otterbein 102, 4. Wooster 109, 5. Ohio Northern 110, 6. Wittenberg 117, 7. Mount Union 118, 8. Ohio Wesleyan 264, 9. Bluffton 277, 10. Wilmington 293, 11. Heidelberg 305.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Sydney Smith (Otterbein) 22:54, 2. Erica Esper (John Carroll) 23:16, 3. Jana Fisher (Case Western) 23:32, 4. Shauna Glavin (John Carroll) 23:39, 5. Athena Tharenos (Wooster) 23:46.
Ohio Northern Results
6. Tessa Pitcovich 23:46, 8. Taylor Ellerbrock 24:10, 22. Rue Whitmore 24:41, 33. Bailey Kreft 25:37, 43. Lexi Neff 26:11, 45. Olyvia Ashbrook 26:36, 51. Sydney Goodrich 26:48.