Women’s Cross Country: Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) hosts Polar Bear Invitational

Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, 10:45 a.m. – ONU Campus Course, Ada, Ohio

| ONU Campus Course Map (.pdf) | 2022 Women's Cross Country Season Preview |

Saturday's Meet: The Ohio Northern women's cross country team opens its 2022 season on Saturday by hosting the Polar Bear Invitational on the ONU campus … The course will start and finish near the King Horn Sports Center … The women's 5k race begins at 10:45 a.m. … ONU, Heidelberg, Bluffton, Trine (Ind.) and a team of ONU alumni are expected to compete … The Polar Bears are coming off a 2021 season in which they finished 95-31 overall with a third-place finish at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships and a seventh-place showing at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals … Northern owns 19 straight top-five finishes at the OAC Championships and four straight top-10 finishes at the NCAA Regionals … The Polar Bears enter the season ranked No. 5 in the Great Lakes Region and No. 33 nationally in the NCAA Division III National Coaches Poll … Fifth-year seniors Tessa Pitcovich and Taylor Ellerbrock lead the way for Northern this season … Pitcovich was the team's top finisher in all seven varsity events last season and was a top-five overall finisher in three of those meets … She placed second at the OAC Championships and fifth at the NCAA Regionals and was named the 2021 All-Ohio Female Runner of the Year for Division III … Pitcovich qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second time in her career last season and earned the NCAA's Elite 90 award in addition to CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team and All-District 7 First Team accolades … She owns the fourth-best 6k time in program history at 22:08 and the 10th-best 5k time at 18:45 … Ellerbrock holds the 11th-best 6k time in program history at 22:43 … She joined Pitcovich as an All-Region and All-OAC honoree last season, placing 13th at the OAC Championships and 20th at the NCAA Regionals … Ellerbrock was the second ONU runner across the finish line in four meets last season … Junior Megan Vapenik also returns, giving Northern three of its four All-OAC honorees from 2021 … Vapenik placed 22nd at the OACs last year and was 54th at the NCAA Regionals … Other returning letter winners include senior Lexi Neff, junior Sydney Goodrich and sophomores Olyvia Ashbrook, Ashley Hockstok and Bailey Kreft.

Head Coach Jason Maus: Maus is in his 14th year as head coach of the ONU men's and women's cross country teams and is the winningest coach in school history for both programs … Over 13 seasons at ONU, he has guided the men's team to a 1,268-334 record, a winning percentage of .792, and four OAC titles and the women's team to a 1,069-449 record, a winning percentage of .704, and three OAC championships.