By Caleb Scott

The Ohio Northern women's cross country team finished second at the Bluffton 5k as junior Emily Richards defended her title and won the 5k for the second consecutive year.

The Polar Bears (5-1) placed three runners in the top-10.

Richards, who ran the fourth fastest 5k time in Polar Bear history, won the event in 18:22.82, sophomore Ashlie Baumann finished eighth in 19:40.80 and freshman Zoe Schilling finished tenth in 20:07.29. 

Findlay won the race with 46 points, Northern finished second with 47 points and Heidelberg finished third with 73 points.

Sophomore Colleen Grainger finished 12th for Northern in 20:09.17, while senior Genevieve Marchese and freshman Madeleine Routhier also posted top-20 finishes. 

"Emily is very strong up front and we're very young behind her," said head coach Jason Maus. "So as the season progresses, we'll get better. But this was a great start and we did a pretty good job overall with race strategy."

Team Standings

1. Findlay 46, 2. Ohio Northern 47, 3. Heidelberg 73, 4. Bluffton 110, 5. Ohio Christian 154, 6. Ohio Northern Alumni 163, 7. Tiffin 168, 8. Lourdes 206

Top 5 Individuals

1. Emily Richards (Ohio Northern) 18:22.82, 2. Taylor Bolinger (Findlay) 18:45.67, 3. Rachel House (Heidelberg) 18:54.35, 4. Ariel Arellano (Ohio Christian) 19:06.27, 5. Melanie Ruich (Findlay) 19:19.31

Ohio Northern Individual Results

1. Emily Richards 18:22.82, 8. Ashlie Baumann 19:40.80, 10. Zoe Schilling 20:07.29, 12. Colleen Grainger 20:09.17, 16. Genevieve Marchese 20:20.47, 18. Madeleine Routhier 20:35.43, 22. Janelle Posthuma 20:46.97, 27. Angie Sullivan 20:52.51, 29. Kathleen Colvin 20:57.09, 33. Danielle Sutter 21:07.09, 38. Megan Joseph 21:16.65, 47. Elizabeth Martin 21:48.67, 48. Kristina Myers 21:49.60, 54. Nikki Huber 22:11.46, 55. Avery Ewing 22:20.89, 56. Maggie Kimmel 22:30.30, 61. Elizabeth Steele 22:49.31, 69. Enya Kent 23:28.56, 77. Paige Giessler 24:32.65, 81. Renee Kraft 26:44.48