Season Review: Women's Cross Country posts 16th consecutive upper-division OAC finish in 2017
By Caleb Scott
ADA — For the 16th consecutive season, the Ohio Northern women's cross country team finished in the top half of the Ohio Athletic Conference standings, under the guidance of ninth-year head coach Jason Maus.
The Polar Bears (94-37 overall) finished fourth at the OAC Championships and saw two athletes garner First Team All-OAC honors, as senior Emily Richards (Delaware/Hayes) and junior Ashlie Baumann (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) each earned the honor.
Richards was tabbed a First Team All-Conference awardee after she finished second overall in the meet in 22:04.4, while Baumann finished sixth overall in 22:42.9 to earn First Team All-OAC honors.
The duo also earned United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region honors.
Richards was named All-Great Lakes Region after claiming second place overall in what was at the time a career-best time of 21:47.2. The senior made her third consecutive appearance at the national championship meet after posting the second-best finish at the regional meet by an Ohio Northern women's cross country runner.
Baumann earned All-Region honors after finishing 16th overall in the race in 22:55.7. She was also named the OAC Runner of the Week for the week of Sept. 5 after finishing fifth of 90 runners at the season-opening Bluffton Invitational and posting a career-best time of 18:48 which tied her for 10th all-time at Ohio Northern in the 5k.
Richards was dubbed the OAC Co-Runner of the Year for her efforts and would go on to be named an All-American after finishing ninth overall at the National Championships and post the second-best finish in school history in a career-fastest time of 21:02.
The senior was also named the Div. III All-Ohio Female Runner of the Year as ONU swept both the male and females honors in 2017.
The Polar Bears also saw six athletes earn Academic All-OAC status for their efforts in the classroom and in competition.
Richards, juniors Kristina Myers (Grove City/Central Crossing), Angie Sullivan (Medina), Elizabeth Steele (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) and sophomores Zoe Schilling (East Sparta/Canton Central Catholic) and Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) all earned the honor for Northern.
Richards, a Chemistry major from Delaware, is now a 3-time Academic All-OAC award winner.
Myers, a Biology/Biochemistry major, was named Academic All-OAC for the second time in her career.
The junior posted five top-7 finishes for ONU this season and ran a career-fastest 6k time of 24:03 at the Principia (Ill.) Cowbell Classic.
Sullivan, a Civil Engineering major from Medina, earned her second career Academic All-OAC honor.
The junior posted one top-7 finish for ONU this season and ran a career-best 5k time of 20:28 at the Calvin (Mich.) Invitational.
Steele, an Exercise Physiology major from Tempe, Ariz., is now a 2-time Academic All-OAC honoree.
The junior posted one top-7 finish for ONU this season and competed in six races. She ran a career-best 5k time of 21:14 at the Calvin (Mich.) Invitational.
Schilling, a Pharmacy major from East Sparta, claimed her first career Academic All-OAC accolade.
The sophomore posted six top-7 finishes for ONU this season. Schilling posted new career-bests in both the 5k and 6k races.
She set a career-fastest 5k time of 19:33 at the Bluffton Invitational and set a career-best time of 24:09 at the Tiffelberg open.
Colvin, a Nursing major from Hilliard, collected her first career Academic All-OAC award.
The sophomore competed in six races this season and ran a career-best 5k time of 20:15 at the Calvin (Mich.) Invitational.
Northern opened the season on Sept. 5 with a first place finish at the annual Bluffton Invitational before finishing seventh of 23 teams at the Calvin (Mich.) Invitational.
After winning the Tiffelberg Open on Sept. 16, Northern would post a fifth place finish at the All-Ohio Championships and finish in the top half of the field at the Principia (Ill.) Cowbell Classic.
The Polar Bears would post their 16th consecutive upper-division conference finish at the OAC Championships before wrapping the the season up with a ninth place finish at the Great Lakes Regional meet.
"I'm really proud of the step this program took this year," said head coach Jason Maus. "We really wanted to be competitive and I saw that this year. Obviously Emily and Ashlie had pretty special seasons for us, but seeing the growth in the rest of the team was really fun to watch. Our junior class really made their mark and improved and set a standard for the younger athletes. We set a goal at the beginning of the season to get back into the top-10 at regionals and we accomplished that. This is a very resilient group and we definitely took a step in the right direction."