Eight members of the Women's Track & Field and Cross Country teams earn Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors

By Steven Wright

ADA - The Ohio Northern women's track & field and cross country teams combined to have five First Team and three Honorable Mention Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conferences honorees.

The five Polar Bear First Team Academic All-OAC members include seniors Joy Kessler and Regina Bresson and juniors Karen Thatcher, Janelle Jansen and Brittany Farber.

Kessler was a force for the indoor track & field team, winning the OAC Title in the 500-meter run with an ONU record time of 1:17.80. She was also a member of the second-place indoor 4x400-meter relay team.

Kessler earned all-conference honors twice more during the outdoor season, finishing second as part of the 4x800-meter relay team and third as part of the 4x400-meter relay team.

Bresson started off her year with an All-OAC performance at the cross country championships by finishing in eighth place.

Her track season was even more impressive with four All-OAC efforts, including a first-place sweep of the 5,000-meter runs. She also brought home a second-place finish in the outdoor 10,000-meter run and a third-place finish in the indoor 3,000-meter run.

Thatcher has been a very solid all-around performer for the Polar Bears, participating in a variety of sprint and jump events. She scored the fifth most points for ONU during indoor season at 63.75 and the fourth most points during the outdoor season at 59.75 points.

She had the best mark in the indoor triple jump for ONU at 32-9.25 and the best time in the outdoor 100-meter dash at 13.09.

Jansen was an All-OAC recipient at both the indoor and outdoor conference championships by claiming second place in the pole vault in both events.

Jansen was another solid all-around athlete for Ohio Northern by scoring a team-leading 93 points in the indoor season and the fifth-most points (55) in the outdoor season.

Farber was a five-time All-OAC performer on the year earning second-place finishes twice at the indoor championship (500, 4x400) and three times at the outdoor championship (800, 4x400, 4x800).

She also had the best time for ONU in the outdoor 800-meter run at 2:18.24.

The three Honorable Mention Academic All-OAC selections were seniors Erica Rumschlag and Dani Noe and junior Rachel Smith.

Rumschlag ran a season-best 20:14 in the cross country 5,000-meter course, while scoring31.75 points in indoor track and 15 points in outdoor track.

Noe has had a sensational senior season by being a five-time All-OAC performer and a two-time OAC Runner of the Week.

Noe was also the 400-meter hurdle champion at the outdoor championship en route to being named OAC Championship Sprinter of the Meet. She has also ran an NCAA Provisional qualifying time in the event at 1:03.14 and is looking to run at the NCAA Championshps for the second straight year.

Smith has also had a huge part in contributing to the historical season of the Polar Bear running programs.

Smith began the year by running in fourth place at the cross country OAC Championship and 26th at the Great Lakes Regional Championship.

She then was named OAC Distance Runner of the Year in indoor track by turning in three all-conference performance, including a win in the mile run. She earned two more All-OAC honors during the outdoor OAC Championship.