Season Review: Women’s Cross Country posts tremendous accomplishments in 2022

By Wes Mayberry 

ADA — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team put together an outstanding 2022 season that included its best conference and regional finishes in a decade-plus, an appearance at the NCAA Championships meet and a second consecutive NCAA Elite 90 Award.

"This was one of the best teams we've had in the last 10 years," 14th-year head coach Jason Maus said. "The commitment and dedication this group showed was tremendous. They have a lot to be proud of from this season."

The Polar Bears posted a 119-23 record and placed in the upper half of all seven of their varsity events in 2022. The team was ranked in five of the weekly USTFCCCA national polls, reaching as high as No. 31, and has now finished with 90-plus wins in seven of the last nine seasons.

ONU opened the 2022 season with first-place showings at the Polar Bear Invitational and Wittenberg Invitational and placed second of 25 teams at the Rochester (N.Y.) Invitational.

Northern was ninth of 36 schools at the Pre-NCAA Meet and 10th of 32 teams at the Oberlin Regional Rumble to close out the regular season.

The Polar Bears then put together a strong postseason. Their second-place finish at the OAC Championships was their best at that event since winning the conference title in 2012, and their fifth-place showing at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals was their best since finishing second at that level in 2011. Northern now has 20 consecutive top-five finishes at the OACs and five straight top-10 finishes at the regional meet.

"The OAC meet was a pretty good one for us this year. We competed really well on a tough course and had five women earn All-OAC, which is the most we've had in a long time," Maus said. "It's tough to be disappointed about being fifth in the region because that is a great accomplishment. But we came up just a little short on making the NCAA Championships, so it leaves a sour taste."

Fifth-year senior Tessa Pitcovich paced ONU in 2022, leading the team across the finish line in five events en route to qualifying for the NCAA Division III Championships for the second straight year and third time in her career. She was also the lone Polar Bear to earn an OAC Runner of the Week accolade, doing so on Oct. 3.

Pitcovich ran a time of 22:36 to place second overall and earn First Team All-OAC honors at the OAC Championships and went on to top that with a personal-best 21:22 at regionals to earn All-Great Lakes Region honors and qualify for the NCAA Championships. Her time of 21:22 ranks third-best in program history for 6,000 meters.

She placed 81st overall with a time of 23:14 on a cold, snowy day at the national meet in East Lansing, Mich., and capped her season by collecting the NCAA Elite 90 Award for the second straight year. The prestigious award is given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA competing at each of the 90 NCAA Championships events each year. Pitcovich is just the second student-athlete in ONU history to win the award twice.

Pitcovich was also named the OAC Scholar-Athlete of the Month for November, marking the second time in her career that she has earned that accolade. She was named the OAC Scholar Athlete of the Month in June as a member of the track and field team.

"Tessa had a great close to the season. Her OAC and regional races were two of her best ones," Maus said. "We have high expectations of her, and she handled them all season long. She's a leader on and off the course and is someone that everyone looks up to and the coaching staff respects."

Sophomore Ashley Hockstok (Westerville/Central) and fifth-year senior Taylor Ellerbrock (Columbus Grove) joined Pitcovich as All-Region performers this season.

Hockstok ran a personal-best time of 22:04 to finish 21st overall at the regional meet. That time was over 90 seconds faster than her previous best and ranks fifth all-time at ONU. That meet was one of four that Hockstok placed within the top three among ONU runners. That list also included the OAC Championships, where she earned Second Team All-OAC honors with a 16th-place finish in 24:05.

"Ashley caught fire at the end of the year. I thought her OAC race was great and didn't know if she could run any better. Then her regional race was another notch up," Maus said. "We'll look to her for big things in the future, and she'll be one we count on a lot."

Ellerbrock finished 31st at regionals, running a personal-best time of 22:17, which ranks ninth-best in program history. She led all ONU runners at the Polar Bear Invitational, finishing in 19:43 on the 5,000-meter course, and was top three among Northern runners in four other events. She was second among ONU runners, and 13th overall, at the OAC Championships, running a time of 23:53 and joining Hockstok on the All-OAC Second Team.

"Taylor had a very solid season, and much of our success depended on her having good races," Maus said. "She was a great contributor at the OAC and regional championships."

Junior Megan Vapenik (Strongsville), sophomore Bailey Kreft (Sunbury/Buckeye Valley) and freshmen Samantha Roth (Brunswick) and Kennedy Rader (Mason) rounded out the top seven Polar Bear finishers at the regional meet. Vapenik (50th overall), Kreft (53rd), Roth (63rd) and Rader (90th) posted personal-best times of 22:43, 22:44, 22:54 and 23:36, respectively.

Rader and Kreft were coming off top-20 finishes at the OAC Championships. Both earned Second Team All-OAC honors after placing 17th and 19th, respectively, with times of 24:14 and 24:20.

Vapenik also had a solid season, which was highlighted by her performance at the Oberlin Regional Rumble where she was tops among ONU runners with a 32nd-place finish in a time of 23:16.

Junior Olesya Mertz (Johnstown/Johnstown-Monroe) and sophomore Olyvia Ashbrook (Johnstown/Northridge) round out the list of ONU runners who finished in the top seven among Polar Bears in multiple events in 2022.

The Polar Bears also displayed success in the classroom this season. Joining Pitcovich as Academic All-OAC selections for 2022 were Hockstok, Ellerbrock, junior Lizzy Dingman (Burton/Berkshire) and sophomore Summer Bouillon (Carey).

Pitcovich and Ellerbrock are now three-time Academic All-OAC honorees, and Dingman has earned the accolade twice in her career.

After all of the success in 2022, Maus is excited to see how his team can build on it going into next season.

"We lose two big front-runners for next season, but we return most of our varsity runners and have a good amount of depth and talent returning for next year," Maus said. "I think we'll have the opportunity to be better than most people expect, but we have to put in the work to improve."