WESTERVILLE, Ohio — The Marietta College cross country program competed Saturday (Sept. 26) morning in its second race of the season when it participated in the Otterbein College Invitational. The Pioneers finished the meet with a seventh place finish on the women's side (172 points) and an eighth place finish on the men's side (209 points) of the competition. [Men's Results] [Women's Results]

DePauw University captured the women's title by collecting 29 points, while host Otterbein College compiled 69 points to take runner-up. Mount Union College won the men's championship with 59 points, ahead of DePauw (63 points) and Heidelberg University (79), who finished second and third, respectively.

Marietta's women had three runners place in the top 30 in the race that featured 150 individuals. Senior Shannon McDonald (Lorain, Amherst Steele) led the way as the 20th person to cross the line on the 6K course. McDonald finished with a time of 24:26.6. Sophomore Jennifer Emmert (Martinsburg, W.Va., Martinsburg), making her season debut, was right on her heals and took 22nd place with a time of 24:43.8. Senior Stephanie Williams (Vincent, Warren Local) added another solid performance with her 29th place finish after crossing the line in 25:03.6. Junior Mehgan Cline (Dublin, Coffman) was the fourth Marietta woman to finish. She placed 48th with a time of 25:40.5, while freshman Lydia Tillmaand (Xenia, Xenia) rounded out the scoring with a 72nd place finish after covering the course in 26:24.7

“The women looked good for this point in the season, but we need to close up those gaps and get our people where they need to be," Head Coach Derek Stanley said.

The Pioneer men saw two runners place in the top 50 among the 178 competitors. Senior Josh Mickle (Madison, Madison) paced the team on the 8K course with a time of 27:09.8 to place 32nd. Freshman Caleb Muller (Columbus, Bexley) took 44th with a time of 27:30.6. Sophomore Terrance Wallace (Westerville, Westerville Central) and fresman Caleb Ellis (St. Albans, W.Va., St. Albans) finished 55th and 56th, respectively. Wallace crossed the line in 27:56.5, while Ellis crossed in 27:56.7. Junior Max Kenngott (Akron, St. Vincent-St. Mary) completed the scoring with is 82nd place finish after covering the distance in 28:58.6.

“The freshmen men had some of the best performances I have seen in this program," Stanley said. "They are bringing our men's team to a new level. This wasn't our week to demonstrate how much better of a team we are.”

“It was a decent performance for the program today," Stanley said. "We aren't where we want to be necessarily. We were missing some pieces out there today but when pieces are missing you have to find new pieces that fit and we're in the process of doing that. Championship season starts next week at All-Ohio, and I'm looking forward to us being full strength going into the meet!"

Marietta is back in action on Friday (Oct. 2) afternoon when the Pioneers race at the All-Ohio Championship, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University. Action is slated to begin at 2:45 p.m.