Gower earns All-Region honors, leads Women's Cross Country to seventh place finish at NCAA III Great Lakes Regional Championships

Gower earns All-Region honors, leads Women's Cross Country to seventh place finish at NCAA III Great Lakes Regional Championships
Photos Video Live Results Results
November 10, 2023

NORTON — Freshman AnnaSophia Gower (Perrysburg) earned All-Region honors to lead the Ohio Northern women's cross country team to a seventh place finish out of 40 teams at the NCAA Division IIII Great Lakes Regional Championships on Saturday afternoon at Silver Creek Metro Park.

The Basics

  • Record: Ohio Northern (84-22).
  • Race Info: The event was a 6K race held at the Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton.
  • ONU placed 7th of 40 teams with 219 points.
  • Five of the nation's top-35 teams competed in the race.

Race Results

  • The Polar Bears were the second highest finishing OAC school.
  • All seven of ONU's top seven performers ran career-best times in the race.
  • No. 18 Calvin (Mich.) won the race with 90 points, edging No. 29 DePauw (Ind.) on the head-to-head tiebreaker as both schools finished with 90 points.
  • No. 17 Hope (Mich.) was third with 113 points, No. 24 John Carroll was fourth with 119 and No. 35 Centre (Ky.) was fifth with 194 points.

Top ONU Performers

  • Freshman AnnaSophia Gower (Perrysburg) led ONU across the finish line, placing 10th overall in the 269-woman field in a career-best 21:11.
  • She earned All-Region honors.
  • Her time makes her the third-fastest woman in ONU history, trailing only Allison Steinbrunner (21:00) and Emily Richards (21:02).
  • Gower is in position to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA III Championships as an individual, as she finished seventh among runners not expected to qualify for the nationals with their respective teams.
  • Senior Olesya Mertz (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) was 42nd in a career-low 22:05.
  • Senior Megan Vapenik (Strongsville) was 44th in a career-low 22:07.
  • Junior Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge) was 58th in a career-low 22:25.
  • Junior Ashley Hockstok (Westerville/Central) was 65th in a season-low 22:32
  • Sophomore Samantha Roth (Brunswick) finished 68th in a career-low 22:35.
  • Sophomore Kennedy Rader (Mason) was 76th in a career-low 22:40.

Notables

  • The top 35 individual finishers earn All-Region honors.
  • The top finishing team in each of the 10 NCAA Regional Championships earn automatic bids to the NCAA III Championships Nov. 18 at Newville, Pa.
  • 22 at-large bids will be awarded to non-regional team champions.
  • The top 7 individuals who are not on teams that have qualified will advance to the NCAA III Championships.

Up Next

  • Gower will wait until Monday to find her NCAA III Championships fate.