Women’s Cross Country places 10th of 32 teams at Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble

By Wes Mayberry

OBERLIN — In its final meet before the OAC Championships, the Ohio Northern women's cross country team placed 10th of 32 teams at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble on Saturday at Oberlin College North Fields.

In the invitational race, the Polar Bears (82-18 overall) scored 302 points.

No. 21 John Carroll finished in first place with 70 points. Wisconsin-Stevens Point was second with 165 points, Centre (Ky.) was third with 177 points, Trine (Ind.) was fourth with 179 points and No. 32 Washington and Lee (Va.) was fifth with 187 points.

Junior Megan Vapenik (Strongsville) led the Polar Bears across the finish line, placing 32nd of 282 runners with a career-best time of 23:16 on the 6,000-meter course.

Sophomore Ashley Hockstok (Westerville/Central) was 59th in 23:40, freshman Kennedy Rader (Mason/William Mason) was 62nd in 23:42, sophomore Bailey Kreft (Sunbury/Buckeye Valley) was 75th in 23:58, freshman Samantha Roth (Brunswick) was 80th in 24:05, junior Olesya Mertz (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) was 87th in 24:10, fifth-year senior Taylor Ellerbrock (Columbus Grove) was 102nd in 24:29 and sophomore Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge) was 109th in 24:36.

Hockstok, Rader and Kreft joined Vapenik in setting career-best times at the meet.

Baldwin Wallace's Hope Murphy won the top overall finisher, running a time of 21:54.

ONU also had eight runners competing in the open section of the meet. Freshman Sarah Gilbert (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) was the Polar Bears' top finisher in that race, placing 21st of 134 runners with a time of 24:28. Sophomore Aubrey Cable (Latrobe, Pa.) was 27th in 24:50 and freshman Natalie Armbruster (Cincinnati/Mount Notre Dame) was 45th in 25:26.

Ohio Northern returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 29, for the OAC Championships.

Team Standings 

1. #21 John Carroll 70, 2. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 165, 3. Centre (Ky.) 177, 4. Trine (Ind.) 179, 5. #32 Washington and Lee (Va.) 187, 6. #27 Case Western Reserve 202, 7. #31 Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) 219, 8. Rochester (N.Y.) 275, 9. Wittenberg 278, 10. Ohio Northern 302, 11. St. Vincent (Pa.) 341, 12. Geneva (Pa.) 361, 13. Ursinus (Pa.) 364, 14. Baldwin Wallace 416, 15. Oberlin 457, 16. Nazareth (N.Y.) 463, 17. Washington and Jefferson (Pa.) 526, 18. Penn State-Behrend 536, 19. Franciscan 554, 20. Kenyon 571, 21. Heidelberg 600, 22. St. Mary's (Ind.) 603, 23. Denison 638, 24. Chatham (Pa.) 668, 25. Manchester (Ind.) 673, 26. Franklin (Ind.) 693, 27. Muskingum 702, 28. Alma (Mich.) 706, 29. Adrian (Mich.) 747, 30. York (Pa.) 818, 31. Rhodes (Tenn.) 856, 32. Anderson (Ind.) 857.

Top 5 Individuals 

1. Hope Murphy (Baldwin Wallace) 21:54, 2. Claire Walter (Franciscan) 22:05, 3. Lydia Randolph (Trine) 22:09, 4. Rachel Krouse (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) 22:13, 5. Macy McAdams (Muskingum) 22:13.

Ohio Northern Results 

32. Megan Vapenik 23:16, 59. Ashley Hockstok 23:40, 62. Kennedy Rader 23:42, 75. Bailey Kreft 23:58, 80. Samantha Roth 24:05, 87. Olesya Mertz 24:10, 102. Taylor Ellerbrock 24:29, 109. Olyvia Ashbrook 24:36.