Women's Cross Country finishes 9th of 23 teams at SUNY Geneseo Invitational

Women's Cross Country finishes 9th of 23 teams at SUNY Geneseo Invitational
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October 14, 2023

GENESEO, N.Y. — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team finished ninth out of 23 teams at the 42nd Annual SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational Saturday morning at the National Warplane Museum.

The Basics

  • Record: Ohio Northern (43-15)
  • Race Info: The event was a 6K race held at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, N.Y.
  • ONU placed 9th of 23 collegiate varsity teams with 271 points.
  • Six of the nation's top-35 teams competed in the race.

Race Results

  • The Polar Bears were the only OAC school to compete and finished third out of four among Ohio schools. Northern defeated 16th-place Oberlin and fell to seventh-place Case Western Reserve and No. 25 Wittenberg, which finished fifth.
  • No. 6 Carleton (Minn.) won the race with 50 points, No. 4 SUNY Geneseo was second with 60, No. 15 Lynchburg (Va.) was third with 82, No. 8 Johns Hopkins (Md.) was fourth with 103, No. 25 Wittenberg was fifth with 170 and No. 31 Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) was sixth with 197.

Top ONU Performers

  • Freshman AnnaSophia Gower (Perrysburg) led ONU across the finish line, placing 32nd overall in the 304-woman field in 22:12.
  • Junior Ashley Hockstok (Westerville/Central) was 64th in 22:41.1.
  • Senior Olesya Mertz (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) was 65th in 22:41.4.
  • Sophomore Samantha Roth (Brunswick) was 76th in 22:47.
  • Senior Megan Vapenik (Strongsville) was 80th in 22:54.
  • Sophomore Kennedy Rader (Mason) was 87th in 23:04.
  • Junior Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge) was 99th in 23:20.

Notables

  • Gower has been ONU's top finisher in all five races this season. Her time on Saturday was a career-best, topping her previous best of 22:50.
  • Mertz, Roth, Rader and Ashbrook also posted career-best times.
  • Hockstok and and Vapenik posted season-best times.
  • The meet was the regular season finale for the Polar Bears.
  • ONU will host the OAC Championships on Oct. 28 and will compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals at Akron on Nov. 11.
  • The NCAA III Championships are slated for Nov. 18 at Newville, Pa.

Up Next

  • The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday, Oct. 28, when they host the OAC Championships ay Hillcrest Golf Course in Findlay.