Women's Cross Country finishes 11th of 33 teams at Oberlin Rumble
By Andrew Loewe
OBERLIN — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team raced to an 11th-place finish out of 33 teams at the Oberlin Rumble on Saturday afternoon at the Oberlin North Fields.
In the Varsity race, the Polar Bears (58-23 overall) scored 303 points and recorded a total time of 1:59:33 and an average time of 23:55 on the 6,000-meter course.
Senior Tessa Pitcovich (Stowe/Munroe Falls) led the seven-woman ONU team, crossing the finish line in sixth out of 302 runners in 22:25. Her 22:25 tied her career best effort.
Sophomore Megan Vapenik (Strongsville) and senior Rue Whitmore (Mason) were the next Polar Bears to finish, placing 60th and 61st with times of 23:56 and 24:00, respectively.
Senior Sophia Thompson (Mount Vernon/Highland) was 93rd in 24:32, freshman Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge) was 97th in 24:37, freshman Ashley Hockstock (Westerville/Westerville Central) was 103rd in 24:45, junior Lexi Neff (Northfield/Walsh Jesuit) was 115th in 24:56, sophomore Sydney Goodrich (Romeo, Mich.) was 124th in 25:02 and freshman Larkin Warner (Findlay) was 128th in 25:08.
Evie Bultemeyer, of Trine (Ind.), won the individual title, finishing in 21:14.
No. 17 Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) took home the team title with 121 points and had two top-15 runners.
No. 22 Allegheny (Pa.) was second with 139 points, Wisconsin Stevens-Point finished third with 148 points, No. 19 John Carroll placed fourth with 168 points and No. 34 Trine (Ind.) rounded out the top-five teams with 170 points.
ONU also had 13 runners competing in the Open 6K race. The Polar Bears' top two finishers were sophomore Olesya Mertz (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) and freshman Anika Berrios (Uniontown/Lake), crossing 14th and 15th in 25:23.6 and 25:25.6, respectively.
Ohio Northern will return to action Oct. 30 at Wilmington for the OAC Championships starting at 11 a.m.
Team Standings
1. #17 Carnegie Mellon (Pa.) 121, 2. #22 Allegheny (Pa.) 139, 3. Wisconsin Stevens-Point 148, 4. #19 John Carroll 168, 5. #34 Trine (Ind.) 170, 6. #23 Case Western 183, 7. Mount Union 220, 8. Trinity (Tex.) 224, 9. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 233, 10. Elmhurst (Ill.) 276, 11. Ohio Northern 303, 12. Manchester (Ind.) 382, 13. Baldwin Wallace 399, 14. Kalamazoo (Mich.) 420, 15. Oberlin 429, 16. Brockport St. (N.Y.) 467, 17. Franciscan 479, 18. Albion (Mich.) 516, 19. Denison 529, 20. St. Mary's (Ind.) 557, 21. Rose-Hulman (Ind.) 563, 22. Wisconsin-Whitewater 600, 23. Geneva (Pa.) 614, 24. Grove City (Pa.) 625, 25. Waynesburg (Pa.) 696, 26. St. Vincent (Pa.) 731, 27. Penn St.-Behrend 783, 28. Ohio Wesleyan 789, 29. Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) 811, 30. Olivet College (Mich.) 881, 31. Alma (Mich.) 887, 32. Chatham (Pa.) 906, 33. Capital 950.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Evie Bultemeyer (Trine) 21:14, 2. Hannah Lorenz (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) 21:45, 3. Megan Aaron (Allegheny) 22:11, 4. Jana Fisher (Case Western) 22:14, 5. Alyssa Laughner (Baldwin Wallace) 22:17.
Ohio Northern Results
6. Tessa Pitcovich 22:25, 60. Megan Vapenik 23:56, 61. Rue Whitmore 24:00, 93. Sophia Thompson 24:32, 97. Olyvia Ashbrook 24:37, 103. Ashley Hockstock 24:45, 115. Lexi Neff 24:56, 124. Sydney Goodrich 25:02, 128. Larkin Warner 25:08, 135. Bailey Kreft 25:12.