2008 Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Championship Preview
Women's action will begin Saturday at 12 p.m. at Broughton Nature Preserve

Written with the help of Derek Stanley, Head Cross Country Coach
Oct. 29, 2008
Marietta, Ohio — The Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Women’s Cross Country Championship is up for grabs with the most parity the Conference has seen in some time. Three OAC teams are ranked in the top 10 of the Great Lakes Region with Otterbein seventh, Baldwin-Wallace ninth and Ohio Northern tenth.

2007 champion Baldwin-Wallace is looking to replicate its dominant performance from a year ago. The Yellow Jackets captured their 15th overall team title by placing their top five runners in the top 10 of the race. Baldwin-Wallace is coming off a 10th place finish at the Inter-Regional Rumble, hosted by Oberlin on October 18.

Otterbein is also looking strong heading into the championship after taking eighth place finish at Oberlin. The Cardinals had their top five runners all finish within 50 seconds of each other to lead them to a victory over Baldwin-Wallace, Ohio Northern and Marietta.

Ohio Northern placed 11th at Oberlin, just 18 points behind B-W. The Polar Bears’ top five all crossed the line within a minute of one another at the meet. Ohio Northern’s best race this season came at the All-Ohio Championships where it was the top OAC team in the field, finishing third in Division III.

John Carroll is coming off a victory at the Wilmington Fall Classic on October 17. The Blue Streaks put five runners in the top 25 and totaled 71 points defeat Wittenberg, who was previously ranked in the region.

Marietta came in 15th place at Oberlin, finishing 42 points behind Ohio Northern. The Pioneers have consistently finished been the fourth-highest OAC finisher in meets this season.

Wilmington will look to get a couple women in the front of the race to move into the mix, and Capital will rely on its seniors to do the same. Heidelberg looks to upset some teams and Muskingum, under the direction of new head coach Jake Gleason, will try to improve on last year’s 10th place finish. Mount Union has fielded teams of less than five runners during the season. If they field a full team, the Purple Raiders could add even more to the excitement of this championship.

Last year’s runner-up, Otterbein junior Nicole Reese, will try to pick up where she left off last year. She has been named OAC Runner of the Week twice this season. Baldwin-Wallace sophomore Kim Chinn, Ohio Northern junior Rachel Smith and Marietta junior Randi Robertson have also earned Runner of the Week honors this year. In addition, do not count out Baldwin-Wallace junior D’Arcy Hlavin, who was the top conference finisher at Oberlin, John Carroll sophomore Melissa Thorne, who finished fifth at Wilmington, Otterbein senior Abby Lugwig, who finished 26th at Oberlin, Marietta junior Kaity Smith, who took 31st at Oberlin or Mount Union junior Heather Stalter from making a run at the top spot on Saturday.