Season Preview: Women’s Cross Country enters 2022 with high expectations
By Wes Mayberry
| 2022 Women's Cross Country Schedule |
ADA — After putting together a stellar 2021 campaign, the Ohio Northern women's cross country team enters the 2022 season with high hopes of maintaining that success under 14th-year head coach Jason Maus.
"We're returning most of our group from last year, so we're excited for this season," Maus said. "Expectations are high, and I think we have a pretty good opportunity to be successful on several levels."
The Polar Bears closed 2021 with a record of 95-31 after finishing third at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and seventh at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals. The third-place finish at the OACs was the team's best since winning the championship in 2012 and was its 19th straight top-five showing, and the performance at regionals was its fourth consecutive top-10 finish at that meet. Northern, which enters 2022 ranked No. 33 nationally in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll, also placed in the top half of the field in all four of its regular-season meets last season.
Looking to carry over that success into 2022, the Polar Bears are excited about the return of nine letter winners, including both of their All-Region honorees from a year ago in fifth-year seniors Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) and Taylor Ellerbrock (Columbus Grove).
"We're really excited to have Tessa and Taylor back as fifth-year seniors," Maus said. "They have been staples in our program for years. They're very impactful both on and off the course and are great leaders and great teammates."
Pitcovich, a three-year letter winner, has put herself among the best runners in ONU history after what was a highly decorated senior season in 2021 during which she was the team's top finisher in all seven varsity events. She was a top-five overall finisher in three of those meets, including a second-place showing at the OAC Championships and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals.
The three-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC selection and two-time All-Great Lakes Region honoree was named the 2021 All-Ohio Female Runner of the Year for Division III and went on to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition and CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team and All-District 7 First Team accolades. She capped her senior season by qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships for the second time in her career and becoming the first female student-athlete, and fourth overall, at ONU to earn the NCAA Elite 90 award, which is given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA's 90 championships.
Pitcovich, who also qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 10,000 meters last season, enters 2022 holding the fourth-best 6k time in program history at 22:08 and 10th-best 5k time at 18:45.
Ellerbrock has also put herself into the ONU record book, holding the 11th-best 6k time in program history at 22:43. The two-year letter winner was an All-Great Lakes Region and All-OAC honoree in 2021, finishing 13th at the OAC Championships and 20th at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals. A three-time Academic All-OAC honoree, Ellerbrock garnered USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition last season and is primed to help lead the Polar Bears in 2022.
Also returning is junior Megan Vapenik (Strongsville), giving the team three of its four All-OAC honorees from 2021. Vapenik placed 22nd at the OAC Championships last season with a time of 24:47 and was 54th at the Great Lakes Regionals with a career-best 6k time of 23:23. She finished among ONU's top seven runners in all four events she competed in as a sophomore.
"Megan is very consistent in that you know the kind of effort you're going to get from her every day," Maus said. "She has steadily improved every year, and we're looking forward to her continuing that this year. We'll continue to lean on her a little more and raise the expectations for her."
Other returning letter winners include senior Lexi Neff (Northfield/Walsh Jesuit), junior Sydney Goodrich (Romeo, Mich.) and sophomores Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge), Ashley Hockstok (Westerville/Central) and Bailey Kreft (Sunbury/Buckeye Valley).
"We're looking forward to that group coming back," Maus said. "We expect those women to take it to the next level and continue to be competitive."
Neff has competed in 11 events in her career and is coming off a junior season in which she placed 37th at the OAC Championships with a time of 25:20. She owns a career-best 6k time of 24:35.
Goodrich finished 32nd at the OAC Championships last season with a time of 25:08 and owns a career-best mark of 25:02.
Ashbrook leads the way for the Polar Bears' sophomore class, as she was among the team's top seven finishers in all six events she ran in during the 2021 season. She ran a career-best time of 24:24 on a pair of occasions, including the Great Lakes Regionals where she placed 105th after a 27th-place showing at the OAC Championships with a time of 24:56.
Hockstok was Northern's top finisher at the JV-only Findlay Invitational last season, placing 23rd overall with a time of 24:57. She has a career-best 6k time of 24:45 and placed 34th at the 2021 OAC Championships with a mark of 25:14.
Kreft has finished among ONU's top seven runners in five of the six meets she's competed in during her career. She placed 28th at the OAC Championships last season with a time of 24:58 and was 149th the Great Lakes Regionals with a time of 25:22. She enters 2022 with a career-best time of 24:45.
Junior Olesya Mertz (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) also returns after earning Academic All-OAC recognition last season.
Additionally, the Polar Bears have added 10 freshmen for 2022.
"I'm excited about the freshman class. There are some young ladies that can make an immediate impact on this year's team," Maus said. "As a whole, this class has the chance to be pretty competitive down the road."
The Polar Bears are scheduled to compete in five regular-season meets in 2022. After opening the season at home in the Polar Bear Invitational on Sept. 3, they will run at the Wittenberg Invitational on Sept. 10, the Rochester (N.Y.) Invitational on Sept. 17, the Pre-NCAA Meet in East Lansing, Mich., on Oct. 1 and the Oberlin Regional Rumble on Oct. 15.
The ONU junior varsity runners will compete in the All-Ohio Championships at Cedarville on Sept. 16 and the Ohio Wesleyan Invitational on Sept. 30.
The 2022 OAC Championships are scheduled for Oct. 29 at Muskingum.
The 2022 Great Lakes Regional Championships meet is set for Nov. 12 in Holland, Mich., and the NCAA Division III Championships are Nov. 19 at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich.