Review: All-Ohio and OAC Championship titles highlight another winning season for Men's Cross Country
ADA — Entering this season, the men's cross country team had some unfinished business, missing out on the 2010 OAC Championship by seven points.
Building up to the 2011 OAC Championships, the Polar Bears were going strong, even taking the All-Ohio Championship title for the third time in five seasons.
Northern finished with 83 points, adding to the titles won in 2007 and again in 2009.
Senior Dan Smith led Ohio Northern with an eighth place finish out of 147 runners in 26:26.
Finally in late October, the team finally got what they worked all season for: the OAC Men's Cross Country title. Northern won with 43 points over second-place and defending champions Mount Union with its 75 points.
The first ONU racer to cross the finish line was freshman Nathan Rosenbaum, finishing fourth overall in 26:04. Junior Michael Simmonsfinished sixth overall in 26:07, followed by an eighth-place finish by Smith in 26:08.
Rosenbaum, Simmons and Smith all earned First Team All-OAC accolades, while junior Ben Ankrom, and sophomores Mark Berton andEvan McKee each earned Second Team All-OAC honors.
The Polar Bears' season ended at the NCAA Regional Championships at Oberlin, as the team finished 10th of 35 teams with 280 points.
Smith earned All-Region honors, finishing 21st overall in 25:43. The team finished 2011 with a 103-33 record.
Other awards garnered by Northern throughout the year included Ankrom earning OAC Runner of the Week in September following his 13th-place finish at the Calvin (Mich.) Knight Invitational in a career-best 25:12.
Following a spectacular season, third-year head coach Jason Maus, along with assistants Casey Gantt and Justin Linzy, were named OAC Coaching Staff of the Year for Men's Cross Country.
Looking forward to the 2012 season, Northern looks to return a strong core of experienced, All-Conference caliber runners.