WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Otterbein University's Dara Ford has been named the Division III Women's Ohio Coach of the Year for a third-straight season, announced Friday afternoon.

Ford, now in her fourth year overall at the helm, guided the Otterbein women's cross country program to a third-straight All-Ohio and Ohio Athletic Conference title this past fall season.

The Cardinals, reaching as high as 11th in the national poll (highest ever), then went on to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships  in Elsah, Ill., where they finished 29th as a unit. It was the program's first team appearance since 2003.

Otterbein also won the very competitive Inter-Regional Border Battle at Rowan and later finished fourth at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, placing juniors Claire Lamb and Heather Sandvik amongst the top-five individuals.

Lamb eventually earned All-American honors with a 22nd-place finish on the national stage, joining Marcia Foulke Ziegler (1995) as the only runners in program history to earn the status.

Ford and her Cardinals will now look to carry the momentum over to track and field season, which officially kicks off in full capacity with a pair of home meets on January 13 and 19.

See below for a full list of Division III All-Ohio special-award winners in 2017:

Male Runner of the Year: Ian McVey (Ohio Northern)
Female Runner of the Year: Emily Richards (Ohio Northern)
Men's Coach of the Year: Jason Maus (Ohio Northern)
Women's Coach of the Year: Dara Ford (Otterbein)
Men's Freshman of the Year: Jamie Dailey (John Carroll)
Women's Freshman of the Year: Rachel Timberlake (Muskingum)