WINNECONNE, Wisc. – The Baldwin Wallace University women's cross country team concluded its season by competing at the 2018 NCAA Division III National Championship Meet, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh at the Lake Breeze Golf Course.
BW finished 27th of 32 teams with a total of 577 points. Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) pulled out an upset, knocking off two-time defending NCAA champion Johns Hopkins (Md.) University by one point for the team title.
The Yellow Jackets advanced to the national meet for the eighth time overall and the first since 2009 by winning the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Regional Championship Meet last Saturday, November 10, and earning one of two automatic bids from the region. No BW cross country team, men or women, had ever won a regional championship; however, the women had finished as high as second on four separate occasions: 1987, 1999, 2001 and 2002.
"I'm really proud of our team, how they ran and how they competed this season," said Coordinator of Cross Country and Track and Field and Head Cross Country Coach Joe Eby. "I think this is the start of something really special for us as a program. They got some great experience here and hopefully they make this a goal of improving and returning to the national meet in the near future."
As no BW cross country team had qualified for NCAAs in nine years, the national meet marked a new experience for the entire Yellow Jacket roster. Leading the way through the flat, two-loop course was junior three-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC performer Kelly Brennan (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) as she finished 113th in a time of 22:39.6. Junior two-time All-OAC and Academic All-OAC performer Bella Pendola (Warsaw/River View) followed Brennan closely for a 131st-place finish as she crossed the line in 22:46.7.
Sophomore All-OAC performer Madison Kile (North Canton/Hoover), sophomore All-OAC performer Hastings Marek (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial) and freshman All-Great Lakes Region performer Alyssa Laughner (Howard, Pa./Central Mountain) rounded out the Yellow Jackets' top five finishes. Kile placed 153rd in a 6k time of 22:55.4, Marek took 188th by running 23:11.1 and Laughner finished 219th in a time of 23:28.5.
In addition to the quintet that scored points for the Yellow Jackets, sophomore Molina Otte (Omaha, Neb./Millard West) was not far behind Laughner as she placed 221st in 23:31.2 while junior Academic All-OAC selection Claire Makowski (Bethel Park, Pa.) was 273rd as she ran a season-best time of 24:41.4.
All five of BW's top runners return next season as the Yellow Jackets seek continued success in the OAC and the Great Lakes Region with the hopes of returning to the NCAA Championship meet.
