WESTERVILLE, Ohio — The Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Championship featured a pair of impressive victories at Otterbein University's Dave and Claudia Lehman Cross Country Course. Ohio Northern University claimed the team title, while Savannah Dennison secured the individual crown to represent the University of Mount Union.
After finishing as the conference runners-up in each of the last three seasons, Ohio Northern broke through in a big way to earn the program's first OAC Championship since winning back-to-back-to-back titles in 2010, 2011, and 2012. The Polar Bears clinched the program's eighth all-time OAC Women's Cross Country Championship behind a balanced team that saw four runners place within the race's top seven finishers. Senior Natalie Armbruster led the way with a silver-medal showing, crossing the finish line at 22:26.9. Not far behind, three ONU runners crossed consecutively as AnnaSophia Gower (5th), Samantha Roth (6th), and Allison Woodruff (7th) all earned spots on the All-OAC First Team. Laura Tanner rounded out the team's five scorers, finishing in 11th place. The strong showing saw the Polar Bears pace the field by 14 points, tallying 31 to finish first.
Dennison was dominant en route to the individual conference crown. The junior cleared second place by over 17 seconds, garnering gold with a top time of 22:09.4. Her victory helped Mount Union place third in the team standings, and Dennison became the first women's winner from the Purple Raiders since Catie Campbell won the race in 2014. Dennison's finish clinched her first career All-OAC award as a first-team honoree.
The top 10 individual runners earned first-team All-OAC recognition, while the next 10 finishers comprised the All-OAC Second Team.
Women's All-OAC First Team Honorees:
Savannah Dennison (Mount Union), OAC Champion
Natalie Armbruster (Ohio Northern)
Kate Thormeier (Otterbein)
Brenna Lay (Otterbein)
AnnaSophia Gower (Ohio Northern)
Samantha Roth (Ohio Northern)
Allison Woodruff (Ohio Northern)
Ashley Cooper (Mount Union)
Abby Kobs (Otterbein)
Allie Carey (Baldwin Wallace)
Women's All-OAC Second Team Honorees:
Laura Tanner (Ohio Northern)
Taylor Hennessey (Mount Union)
Ollie Smith (Otterbein)
Dani Widmark (Ohio Northern)
Vanessa Shanaman (Heidelberg)
Ella Degenhard (Otterbein)
Marah Bethel (Mount Union)
Ava Hartman (Mount Union)
Zoe Seabeck (Mount Union)
Morgan Blair (Wilmington)
Championship host Otterbein secured silver in the team standings with 45 points, slotting in between ONU (31 points) and Mount Union (56 points). Baldwin Wallace University (120 points), Heidelberg University (152 points), and Capital University (170 points) populated the next three spots in fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively. Rounding out the nine-team standings were Muskingum University (215 points) in seventh, Wilmington College (230 points) in eighth, and Marietta College (275 points) in ninth.
Up next, teams will compete at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, November 15.