TWINSBURG, Ohio - The Wilmington College women's cross country team finished sixth place at the 2019 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championships held at Liberty Park on Saturday afternoon. That finish is the program's best in seven seasons.
The Fightin' Quakers tallied 175 total points as a team, finishing 22 points clear of seventh-place Heidelberg University and 68 points behind the University of Mount Union. Host John Carroll University edged out Baldwin Wallace University 41-49 to win the championship.
Wilmington's top finisher was freshman Milena Wahl, who placed 26th with a time of 24:17.6 in the six-kilometer race. Sydney Yontz, who was once named OAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week, and Katie Hughes finished close to each other, 31st and 32nd to be exact, with times of 24:27.6 and 24:31.0 respectively.
John Carroll had the top two runners as Syndey Jenko won the meet individually with a time of 22:28.7 while Cameron Bujaucius finished five seconds behind her teammate.
Allison Helmke was the fourth Quaker to cross the finish line, doing so in 25:31.2 for 52nd place. Savannah Rhodes rounded out the scoring for Wilmington as its fifth finisher (26:57.3).
"Our women had a great race as we met our goal of finishing sixth," Head Women's Cross Country Coach Ron Combs said. "I'm excited for the direction our women are going as we are very young as a team. The experience we gained today will definitely benefit us in the future."
Wilmington will have a week off before heading to the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional hosted by Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Nov. 16.
