No. 19 Men's Cross Country wins second consecutive title in dominating fashion

No. 19 Men's Cross Country wins second consecutive title in dominating fashion
Results
October 29, 2016

By Tim Glon

DELAWARE — No. 19-ranked Ohio Northern won its second consecutive league title in dominating fashion at the 2016 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Championships Saturday afternoon at Columbus State Community College.

The Polar Bears (63-5 overall) placed an impressive eight runners in the top 18 to defeat No. 23 Mount Union 29-43 for the team crown.

Senior Andrew Harden (Vandalia/Vandalia-Butler) won the individual title by 2.9 seconds, finishing first out of 143 runners in 25:24 on the 8,000-meter course.

Sophomore Ian McVey (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls), senior Kase Schalois (Van Wert) and senior Cully Gordon (Holmesville/West Holmes) also earned First Team All-OAC honors.

The top nine finishers earn First Team All-OAC honors and runners 10-18 receive Second Team All-Conference kudos.

McVey was third in 25:50, Schalois was fifth in 25:54 and Gordon was ninth in 26:07.

Junior Bobby Borger (Perrysburg) was 11th in 26:15, junior Matt Molinaro (Sterling Heights, Mich./De La Salle) was 13th in 26:26, sophomore Spencer Schulze (Saint Henry) was 17th in 26:44 and junior Samuel Boyd (Killbuck/West Holmes) was 18th in 26:49.

"From the start we were on a mission," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "We were there to send a message. We are running phenomenally well and are building momentum. Having eight All-OAC guys has never been done. I am so poroud of our guys."

The eight All-Conference honorees is a school record and is believed to be an OAC record. Northern placed its eight runners in front of Mount Union's No. 5 runner, who finished 20th.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Nov. 12 at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships at Holland, Mich.

Team Standings

1. #19 Ohio Northern 29, 2. #23 Mount Union 43, 3. Otterbein 96, 4. John Carroll 103, 5. Heidelberg 114, 6. Baldwin Wallace 170, 7. Wilmington 226, 8. Capital 238, 9. Muskingum 282, 10. Marietta 320.

Top 18 Individuals (All-OAC)

1. Andrew Harden (ONU) 25:24, 2. Preston Myers (MtU) 25:26, 3. Ian McVey (ONU) 25:50, 4. Adam Sopchak (MtU) 25:52, 5. Kase Schalois (ONU) 25:54, 6. Isaac Kunta (Berg) 25:58, 7. Wyatt Gardner (Ott) 26:00, 8. Nick Thomas (MtU) 26:03, 9. Cully Gordon (ONU) 26:07, 10. Matt O'Neil (MtU) 26:13, 11. Bobby Borger (ONU) 26:15, 12. Austin Neura (Berg) 26:18, 13. Matt Molinaro (ONU) 26:26, 14, Matt Andrews (JCU) 26:28, 15. Jacob Thompson (Ott) 26:31, 16. Ian Kellogg (Ott) 26:37, 17. Spencer Schulze (ONU) 26:44, 18. Samuel Boyd (ONU) 26:49.

Ohio Northern Individual Results

1. Andrew Harden 25:24, 3. Ian McVey 25:50, 5. Kase Schalois 25:54, 9. Cully Gordon 26:07, 11. Bobby Borger 26:15, 13. Matt Molinaro 26:26, 17. Spencer Schulze 26:44, 18. Samuel Boyd 26:49, 34. Cameron Rusnak 27:22, 38. Eric Collins 27:36, 52. Wyatt Stahl 27:52, 57. Dominic Solis 28:02, 61. John McNutt 28:09, 66. Michael Murray 28:27, 69. Alec Lunney 28:29, 70. Andrew Kurtz 28:31, 75. Ian McKee 28:41, 76. Logan Perry 28:41, 82. Kyle Neff 28:54, 86. Tyler Kennedy 29:00, 87. Riley Lamison 29:01, 89. Alexander Wood 29:07, 92. Bryan Peck 29:12, 96. Auston Davenport 29:26, 117. Michael Shilling 30:51, 122. Dustin Lumadue 31:33, 132. Jacob Gallaher 33:38.