By Tim Glon

CEDARVILLE — The Ohio Northern women's cross country team posted a fifth place finish in the Division III race at the All-Ohio Championships on Friday afternoon at the King Cross Country Course.

The Polar Bears improve to 44-10 and were fifth of 17 teams with 178 points.

Junior Ashlie Baumann (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) led Northern across the finish line, finishing eighth of 139 runners 22:58 on the 6,000-meter course.

Junior Colleen Grainger (Hilliard/Bradley) was 25th in 23:35, freshman Chyanne Retcher (Ney/Fairview) was 42nd with a 24:05, sophomore Zoe Schilling (East Sparta/Canton Central Catholic) was 50th in 24:23 and freshman Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) was 55th in 24:29.

"We ran a decent race," said head coach Jason Maus. "Not our best effort, but a solid race. I think we were a bit overwhelmed on such a big stage. Hopefully we use it as a learning experience and improve from here."

The Polar Bears return to action Oct. 14 when they compete at the Wisconsin-Oshkosh Invitational.

Team Standings

1. Otterbein 49, 2. Kenyon 70, 3. Case Western Reserve 84, 4. Mount Union 160, 5. Ohio Northern 178, 6. Baldwin Wallace 195, 7. John Carroll 197, 8. Ohio Wesleyan 213, 9. Muskingum 237, 10. Oberlin 289, 11. Heidelberg 329, 13. Capital 331, 14. Denison 341, 15. Wooster 355, 16. Franciscan 438, 17. Wittenberg 453.

Top 5 Individuals

1. Claire Lamb (Ott) 21:57, 2. Heather Sandvik (Ott) 22:15, 3. Rachel House (Berg) 22:38, 4. Bella Pendola (BW) 22:49, 5. Rachel Timberlake (Muak) 22:51.

Ohio Northern Individuals Results

8. Ashlie Baumann 22:48, 25. Colleen Grainger 23:35, 42. Chyanne Retcher 24:05, 50. Zoe Schilling 24:23, 55. Megan Wright 24:29, 56. Avery Ewing 24:33, 73. Kristina Myers 24:58.