After winning back-to-back Ohio Athletic Conference Championships the past two years, one could wonder what's left for motivation for the Ohio Northern women's cross country team heading into the 2012 campaign.
How about setting a school record with a third straight league title for starters?
"We have never won three straight OAC titles and that's our goal this year," fourth-year head coach Jason Maus said. "It will be a difficult task, as we lost a big part of last year's team to graduation. But we have a strong nucleus of returners and are very much looking forward to the season."
Maus returns five letterwinners from the 2011 squad that set a school record with a 133-28 record, won the OAC title, finished second at the NCAA III Regionals and placed 19th at the NCAA III Championships.
The Polar Bears were ranked as high as No. 17 nationally last fall.
The cupboard is hardly bare, as two All-Conference honorees return.
Leading the list of returners is senior three-time OAC Champion and two-time All-American Alison Steinbrunner.
Steinbrunner looks to complete her re-writing of the ONU record books, as she already owns the 5,000 and 6,000-meter school records and the records for freshmen, sophomores and juniors at each distance.
Senior Lydia Weaver earned First Team All-OAC honors by finishing sixth at the OAC Championships last fall.
Senior Sarah Turley, junior Brooke Larsen and sophomore Samantha Hoffman also return after earning letters last season.
'I am really looking forward to coaching this team," Maus said. "They are a hard-working group that accepts coaching and just wants to get better and succeed. They have a great attitude and came into training camp ready to go."
