By Tim Glon
The Ohio Northern women's track and field team will go with the youth movement in 2021 under 12th-year head coach Jason Maus.
The Polar Bears welcome back 17 letterwinners from its 2020 squad that went 48-21 and finished fifth in the Ohio Athletic Conference indoors last season before the outdoor campaign was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Freshmen make up 17 of the Polar Bears' 35-woman roster, but ONU welcomes back 41 of the team's 59 points scored in the OAC Indoor Championships a year ago.
Seniors Stella DeWitt (Weston/Cardinal Stritch) and Megan Wright (Eaton/Twin Valley South) and junior Kayla Silva (Westerville/South) return as All-Conference performers.
DeWitt is a five-time All-Conference performer in the jumps and has scored a team-best 46.5 OAC Championships points in her career.
Wright finished third in the 3,000-meter run as last year's OAC Championships and is also a two-time Academic All-Conference honoree.
Silva was named All-Great Lakes Region as a freshman in 2019 after setting the school record in the 60-meter dash and was All-OAC in the 100-meter dash at the 2019 outdoor championships. She followed that up with a pair of fourth place finishes in the 55- and 200-meter dashes last year.
"We will be young and green this year," Maus said. "Our young ladies will need to grow up fast. We have a nice nucleus of experienced athletes to build around and our strength should be in the distance events.
"We were fortunate this fall that our distance runners were able to compete amongst themselves in our Polar Bear Grand Prix series. We were able to do more than many other schools were able to do with the pandemic going on. Many of our runners improved a great deal this fall and hopefully that will help us this winter and spring."
Here is a preview of the 2021 ONU women's track and field team, by event groupings.
Distance/Mid-Distance
The strength of the Polar Bear squad in 2021 may lie in the deep group of distance and mid-distance runners, led by Wright and juniors Tessa Pitcovich (Stow/Stow-Munroe Falls) and Rue Whitmore (Mason).
Pitcovich was All-OAC and All-Region as a sophomore in 2019, finishing 77th at the NCAA III Cross Country Championships. She was fifth in the 3,000-meter run as last year's OAC Championships.
Whitmore suffered through an injury-plagued 2020 season after earning All-OAC and All-Great Lakes Region honors in cross country as a freshman in 2019. She was also an Academic All-OAC honoree in 2020.
Junior Taylor Ellerbrock (Columbus Grove) had a breakout fall in the Polar Bear Grand Prix and is a returning Academic All-OAC award winner.
Senior Chyanne Retcher (Ney/Fairview) was seventh in the league in the 1-mile run last season and is an Academic All-OAC honoree.
Senior Kylie Vestal (Youngstown/Austintown Fitch) was seventh in the OAC in the 1,000-meter run in 2019 and also returns as an Academic All-OAC honoree.
Senior Kathleen Colvin (Hilliard/Bishop Ready) and junior Sophia Thompson (Mount Vernon/Highland) are returning letterwinners that have also earned Academic All-Conference accolades.
Sophomores Gabrielle Kowalczyk (Prospect/Plesant), Lexi Neff (Northfield/Walsh Jesuit) and Kamryn Rhodes(West Mansfield/North Union) also return as letterwinners in the distance and mid-distance events.
"The distance events should be our bread and butter events," Maus said. "This is our deepest and most talented event group. Hopefully the work we put in this fall will give an extra boost to us in these events."
Jumps
DeWitt is a four-time All-Conference honoree in the long jump, finishing third twice indoors and has a second place finish at the 2018 outdoor championships.
She also placed second outdoor and third indoors in the triple jump in 2018.
Silva finished seventh indoors in 2019 in the long jump.
Junior Mackenzie Detmer (Waterville/Liberty Center) was eighth in the triple jump at last year's indoor OAC championships.
Sophomore Anna Schatzle (Brookville, Ind./Franklin County) was fifth in the league in the pole vault as a freshman in 2020.
"We have a good group returning in the jumps," Maus said. "We also have some freshmen that could have an impact in these events."
Sprints
Silva is an All-Great Lakes Region sprinter, owns the school record (:07.92) for 60 meters and had a pair of fourth place finishes last year.
DeWitt was 13th in the 60-meter dash last year and looks to score points this season in the event.
Detmer was on the Polar Bears' 4x200 relay squad that was fifth in the league meet.
Kowalczyk were part of ONU's 4x400 relay team that was fifth in the league.
"We have seven ladies that have scored points in the sprints this year," Maus said. "Many of them also compete in other events, so are hoping that some newcomers will be able to contribute at the OAC meet."
Throws
The throw events will be contested by three freshmen, Natalie Garrett (Columbus/Bishop Watterson), Juliet Palmer (Ostrander/Fairbanks) and Emily Tackett (Deshler/Patrick Henry).
"We will be very young in the throws," Maus said. "We are excited about watching these young ladies develop and believe we have talent here. It's just a matter of how quickly they adjust to competing at the collegiate level."
