WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein University freshmen
Claire Lamb (Granville/Granville) and
Ian Kellogg (Bexley/Bexley) received more cross country accolades from the Ohio Athletic Conference Tuesday morning.
Lamb was selected as the OAC's Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year on the women's side, becoming the first female from Otterbein to be voted as the league's top runner since Nikki Reese shared the honor in 2007. Lamb was also chosen as the top newcomer across all 10 schools.
"This is a tremendous honor for Claire," head coach
Dara Ford said. "It's extremely difficult to consistently compete at a high level as a freshman, but she turned in a fantastic season. We now shift our focus to the track and I know she has hopes of competing at a few more NCAA Championships this school year. Claire has a great four years in front of her."
Kellogg joined in on the hardware, receiving OAC Freshman of the Year honors after a stellar season following his transfer from Michigan State University. He is a redshirt freshman after competing unattached while with the Spartans.
"I am really proud of Ian and everything he accomplished this year," Ford said. "He bounced back from being sick and having a rough OAC race, to being one of only two guys from our conference competing at nationals. He definitely earned this honor and I know he now has goals of qualifying for the indoor and outdoor championships in track. He certainly has the talent and drive to accomplish great things."
Lamb and Kellogg both finished as the third-fastest freshmen in NCAA Division III this past fall within their respective genders. Lamb won three events, finished second at the OAC Championships, third at the Great Lakes Regional and then 43rd at NCAA's to register the second-best national result in program history. She was the key catalyst for an Otterbein team that won its first-ever OAC Championship in women's cross country.
Kellogg was also very impressive en route to recording four top-5 finishes, including fifth at the OAC Championships, 12th at the Great Lakes Regional and then 86th at the NCAA Championships. He turned in Otterbein's best individual male result at the NCAA's in a decade.
Both Lamb and Kellogg will look to carry their momentum over into a successful track and field season, which begins on Saturday, at Tiffin University, and then resumes one Jan. 16 with the Otterbein Invitational.
