CEDARVILLE, Ohio – Sophomore Athena Tharenos, senior Kayla Bertholf, and senior Isabelle Hoover were among the All-Ohio finishers, and The College of Wooster was one of three NCAA Div. III women's programs with at least a trio of honorees at Friday afternoon's All-Ohio Championships, which took place at Cedarville University's Elvin R. King Cross Country Course. Wooster's women were fourth of 13 teams, and the top team from within the North Coast Athletic Conference, while the men took eighth out of 13 scoring teams.
Tharenos, this week's NCAC Athlete of the Week, was the fifth Div. III finisher, crossing at 23:46.3, and the anthropology, Chinese studies, and environmental geoscience triple-major's been the top finisher from within the conference in all three collegiate cross country starts.
Bertholf, who just missed All-Ohio honors at the championship meet the last time it was contested, wasn't going to be denied on Friday, as the biochemistry and molecular biology major delivered the 10th-place time of 24:17.4. Hoover, who was making her season debut, repeated as an All-Ohio finisher with the 16th-place time of 24:26.5.
First-year Dylan Kretchmar was up to the task at her first championship meet, as the Scots' rookie was 32nd among Div. III finishers at 25:24.9. Classmate Eva Bauman snuck into the top-50 of Div. III competitors at 26:40.1, while first-year Jessica Breth (53rd-place, 27:10.2) and senior Rachel Osterhouse (58th-place 27:32.0) were among Wooster's top seven finishers.
Will Callender turned in a solid 27:03.0 to lead Wooster's men, and the first-year was just outside the last All-Ohio spot at 21st-place. Sophomore Duncan Hardy and first-year Ben Nichols both cracked the top-50 in their All-Ohio debut. Hardy's 28:28.9 was the 45th-fastest time among Div. III entries, while Nichols was three spots back at 28:35.8.
Wooster's top five finishers were all making their All-Ohio debuts. Eric Johnson, Wooster's No. 4, crossed at 29:42.8 (66th-place) and fellow first-year Drew Robertson's 29:54.9 was 68th in the Div. III field. Senior Grant Sprague (79th-place, 31:29.1) and first-year Michail Protopapadakis (86th-place, 32:05.9) were in Wooster's top seven.
John Carroll University swept the All-Ohio Div. III titles. The Blue Streaks' Alex Philip was the top overall finisher (all divisions) on the men's side at 24:52.1, and Otterbein University's Sydney Smith broke the tape among Div. III women's harriers at 22:54.8. John Carroll (5) and Case Western Reserve University (4) were the other Div. III programs with at least three All-Ohio women's finishers.
Wooster has a quick turnaround, as the Fighting Scots welcome Denison University to L.C. Boles Memorial Golf Course for a dual meet on Tuesday, September 21 at 6 p.m.