By Tim Glon
Juniors Mark Berton and Evan McKee each earned First Team All-Conference honors with top-9 finishes to lead Ohio Northern to a second place finish at the 2012 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Cross Country Championships Saturday afternoon at the Wilmington Cross Country Course.
The Polar Bears (80-24 overall) finished second of 10 teams with 76 points. Mount Union won the team title with 45 points, John Carroll was third with 94 points and WIlmington was fourth with 125 points.
Berton finished seventh in 26:03 and McKee was ninth in 26:08.
Four Polar Bear runners earned All-OAC honors by finishing in the top 18.
Sophomore Nathan Rosenbaum was 14th in 26:18 and senior Michael Simmons earned All-OAC honors by just .1 of a second, finishing 18th in 26:22.5.
All four runners earned All-Conference accolades for the second consecutive year.
Marietta's Caleb Muller won the individual title, finishing first in 24:51.
The second place finish marks the seventh consecutive year that Ohio Northern has finished in the top two at the OAC Championships meet. ONU previously won the title in 2007, '08, and '11.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 13, with the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships at Anderson, Ind.
Team Standings
1. Mount Union 45, 2. Ohio Northern 76, 3. John Carroll 94, 4. Wilmington 125, 5. Muskingum 135, 6. Marietta 138, 7. Heidelberg 162, 8. Baldwin Wallace 180, 9. Otterbein 238, 10. Capital 259.
Top 9 Individuals (1st Team All-OAC)
1. Caleb Muller (Mar) 24:51, 2. Kenneth Janosko (BW) 25:26, 3. Caleb Ellis (Mar) 25:53, 4. Josh Clemence (MtU) 25:56, 5. Alex Wilson (MtU) 25:56, 6. Nate Grimm (MtU) 26:01, 7. Mark Berton (ONU) 26:03, 8. Tyler Smith (Musk) 26:04, 9. Evan McKee (ONU) 26:08.
Ohio Northern Individual Results
7. Mark Berton 26:03, 9. Evan McKee 26:08, 14. Nathan Rosenbaum 26:18, 18. Michael Simmons 26:22, 28. Eric Wymer 26:48, 30. Mathew Johnson 26:51, 33. Tyler Feitshans 26:54, 39. Kenton Holliday 27:02, 47. Ryan Valentine 27:14, 50. William Huddleston 27:18, 52. Brett Neutzling 27:21, 58. Ian Anderson 27:26, 59. Michael Potter 27:26, 66. Tobias Deardorff 27:41, 71. Jeff Denny 27:54, 72. Dan Steigerwald 27:55, 73. Matt Bayman 27:56, 82. Jordan Kloss 28:06, 86. Matt Ernstes 28:13, 88. Tom Gerberich 28:15, 92. Dan Sowa 28:34, 117. Jonathan Wherry 29:37, 126. Nathan Barchalk 30:02, 146. Greg Krasnoschlik 34:27.
