Senior Ian McVey wins second consecutive OAC title, leads Men's Cross Country to 3rd place finish at OAC Championships
By Scott Beaton
HARTVILLE — Senior All-American Ian McVey (Stow/Munroe Falls) became the first runner in Ohio Northern history to earn back-to-back Ohio Athletic Conference individual titles as the ONU men's cross country team finished third at the 2018 OAC Championships on Saturday afternoon at Sable Creek Golf Course.
ONU (69-20 overall) scored 77 points in the championship event while Otterbein won the event with 38 points and John Carroll placed second with 64 points. With the third-place effort, the Polar Bears have now finished among the league's top-three teams for the past 14 consecutive seasons.
McVey finished in 26:04.6, just over 15 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. With his victory, he also becomes the third runner in school history to earn All-OAC honors four times.
Senior Spencer Schulze (St. Henry) shined on the 8000-meter course, receiving First-Team All-OAC accolades as he crossed the finish line in 26:28.2, good for third place overall.
Sophomore Travis Sutter (Fort Recovery) also earned All-Conference honors as he finished 16th in 27:11.4.
The top-18 finishers at the event earn All-OAC honors.
Sophomore Jordan Green (Wooster) and freshman Caden Sauerbrey (Dresden/Tri-Valley) completed the Polar Bears' scorers, placing 26th and 35th overall in 27:34.6 and 27:48.7, respectively.
ONU's top-seven was rounded out by junior Griffin Skaff (Canton, Mich./Salem) and sophomore Sam Krabacher (Hamilton/Badin). Skaff took 41st in 27:57.8 and Krabacher placed 42nd in 28:06.0.
"We had a really good team effort today," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "Ian and Spencer were awesome! Ran like seniors should. Travis was very good, three All-OAC awards is great! This makes 14 straight years we've been in the top 3 in the conference. Great momentum for the regional meet."
McVey's victory marks the third year in a row a Polar Bear has won the individual OAC title (McVey in 2018 and Andrew Harden in 2017).
Ohio Northern will race again on Saturday, Nov. 10, at the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional in Shelbyville, Ind.
Team Standings
1. Otterbein 38, 2. John Carroll 64, 3. Ohio Northern 77, 4. Mount Union 107, 5. Baldwin Wallace 108, 6. Heidelberg 156, 7. Wilmington 171, 8. Muskingum 271, 9. Capital 274.
Top 5 Individuals
1. Ian McVey (Ohio Northern) 26:04.6, 2. Chase Hampton (Otterbein) 26:21.1, 3. Spencer Schulze (Ohio Northern) 26:28.2, 4. Jamie Dailey (John Carroll) 26:30.9, 5. Jamey Ehret (Otterbein) 26:32.3.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
1. Ian McVey 26:04.6, 3. Spencer Schulze 26:28.2, 16. Travis Sutter 27:11.4, 26. Jordan Green 27:34.6, 35. Caden Sauerbrey 27:48.7, 41. Griffin Skaff 27:57.8, 42. Sam Krabacher 28:06.0, 52. Alex Loeper 28:24.3, 58. John McNutt 28:37.1, 62. Patrick Baker 28:43.5, 66. Dylan Newport 28:48.7, 68. Dawson Paul 28:55.2, 77. Riley Lamison 29:19.3, 78. Andrew Shelton 29:20.9, 80. Alessandro Tramontano 29:22.7, 85. Jack Borden 29:30.5, 89. Bryan Peck 29:46.9, 91. Dylan McKean 29:56.5, 101. Kyle Neff 30:20.1, 106. Braydon Hoying 30:34.9, 111. Nicholas DeVore 30:50.0, 115. Jackson Brandstaetter 31:02.5, 117. Nathan Southwell 31:17.6, 122. Dylan Kelly 31:44.9