If John Carroll University head coach Kyle Basista could work magic with the calendar, every Ohio Athletic Conference Cross Country Championship would be held on November 2nd.

On November 2, 1991, Grove Jewett's underdog squad won the program's first OAC title.

On November 2, 2013, Dara Ford guided the Blue Streaks to conference title number two.

So it would seem fitting that Basista and his John Carroll crew would capture crown number three on November 2, 2019.

Results

John Carroll scored 41 points to hold off Baldwin Wallace (49) and Otterbein (73) to claim this year's trophy.

The Blue Streaks did so with the top two finishers in the race. Sydney Jenko became the third Blue Streak in program history to earn medalist honors as she won the race in a time of 22.28.7. She joins Shannon McConville (2003 and 2004) and Ellie Fernandez (2005) as medalists from the John Carroll program.

Cameron Bujaucius was the OAC runner-up, earning All-OAC first team status for the second time in as many years. The sophomore clocked in at 22:33.6.

Once Jenko and Bujaucius finished, it would be up to the next three Blue Streaks to seal the deal. Senior Jamie Amoroso did her part, repeating as an all-conference performer by placing 10th in 23:29.6.

Junior Morgan Kelley did her part as well. She earned a time of 23:35.4 to place 12th.

In a fitting way, it would be senior Lyla Graham that would put the exclamation point on the title. Graham would finish in 16th place, earning all-league accolades, and sewing up the crown with a time of 23:47.6

For insurance, Rory Vigrass (20th, 24:00.7) and Erica Esper (21st, 24:09.3) were the sixth and seventh runners to cross for JCU before the fifth Baldwin Wallace runner finished.

Regardless of the date, John Carroll broke through after knocking on the door for so many years to get title number three. JCU was the runner-up in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with 2016 being the year the Blue Streaks tied for first with Otterbein but lost the title on a tiebreaker.

This time, the victory was definitive.

The Blue Streaks will look to carry over the positive momentum when they compete at the NCAA Great Lakes Regionals, scheduled for Saturday, November 16, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.