AUSTINTOWN, Ohio – Sophomore Bella Pendola (Warsaw/River View) has been named the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week for the first time in her career.

Competing in the women's 6k event at the All-Ohio Championships on Friday, Pendola earned her first All-Ohio honor with a career-best time of 22:49.7. The sophomore finished fourth out of 148 Division III runners and 43rd out of 343 runners overall and improved on her previous career best time by 16.4 seconds.

In all four of the Yellow Jackets meets this season, Pendola has been the top runner on the women's side, finishing second, 28th and first at the College of Wooster Invitational, the Ohio Wesleyan University Invitational and Hornet Harrier Invitational, respectively.

BW will look to Pendola to lead the Yellow Jackets once again when it next competes in the Inter Regional Rumble at the Oberlin College Cross Country Course on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 10:30 a.m.