Men’s Cross Country: Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) at Bluffton 6k

Friday, August 31, 2018 @ 6:45 pm – Bluffton Nature Preserve in Bluffton, Ohio

ONU Race Notes: The Ohio Northern men's cross country program raises the curtain on its 2018 regular season schedule Friday, August 31 when the team opens the campaign at the annual Bluffton 6k meet at the Bluffton Nature Preserve located in Bluffton, Ohio … The women's 5k race will start the evening at 6 pm while the men are scheduled to compete in the 6k event beginning at 6:45 pm … This year's field also includes Bluffton, Lourdes, Findlay, IU-Kokomo (Ind.), Ohio Christian, and an Ohio Northern alumni team … During the 2017 season, the Polar Bears would claim their third successive Ohio Athletic Conference Championship title and finished with a 126-37 overall record … The team also qualified for the 2017 NCAA Championships, the team's second straight trip to the national meet … Tenth-year head coach Jason Maus will welcome back seven former varsity letter winners, two All-Conference selections, and a 2017 All-American … Ohio Northern was projected to finish second in the OAC this season, receiving 71 total points and three first-place votes in the OAC Coaches Preseason Poll released on August 15 … The 2018 roster will be led by 2017 All-American and OAC Runner of the Year Ian McVey (Stow/Munroe Falls) … The senior was crowned the OAC and NCAA Great Lakes Regional individual champion a season ago while finishing 10th at the 2017 NCAA Championships … McVey would cross the finish line first for the Polar Bears in all eight varsity races last season … Two-time All-OAC Second-Team honoree Spencer Schulze (St. Henry) will also return this season … Senior John McNutt (Ashtabula/Lakeside), juniors Andrew Shelton (Williamsville, N.Y./South) and Riley Lamison (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area), and sophomores Jordan Green (Wooster) and Travis Sutter (Fort Recovery) each are varsity letter winners who will look to make an impact during the upcoming season … Northern has claimed the Bluffton 6k team title in each of the past five seasons, winning each event since ONU began competing in the meet during the 2013 campaign.

Head Coach Jason Maus: Maus enters his 10th season as head coach of the men's cross country team … He has coached four men's cross country teams to Ohio Athletic Conference titles, including a string of three consecutive crowns from 2015-17 … He sports an overall win-loss record of 978-213 over his first nine seasons, good for a winning percentage of .821 … Maus currently stands as the all-time winningest coach in Ohio Northern school history for both men's and women's cross country.