They call it a game of inches for a reason.

Or in this particular case, a game of seconds.

The John Carroll University Women's Cross Country team came within seconds of conquering the 2016 OAC Championship crown but fell short to first place Otterbein in a tie-breaker on Saturday morning from Delaware, Ohio.

Both teams finished with a score of 46 before the officials deemed the meet in favor of the Cardinals to break the deadlock. The tiebreaker went to the sixth runner, and Otterbein's sixth place runner finished in 20th while John Carroll's placed 22nd.

The fact that John Carroll was tied with the defending champs in the first place was a shocker. The Cardinals, led by former JCU head coach Dara Ford, are ranked #18 in Division III and are third in the Great Lakes Region.

Heading the pack for the Blue Streaks was a quartet of top 10 finishers in Erin Kiley (sixth place, 22:18.1), Schasia Modrzynski (seventh place, 22:18.9), Cassie Schillero (ninth place, 22:31.7), and Becky Rohwer (10th place, 22:36.4). Kiley, Modryzynski and Schillero all earned All-OAC first team honors. 

Despite not having any runners finish in the top five of the race, JCU was able to showcase the depth of their roster with an average time of 22:30 and total time of 1:52.29.

Other impact performers included Lauren Gornik (14th place, 22:43.9), Christine Smith (22nd place, 23:28.7), Jamie Amoroso (28th place, 23:49.3), Lyla Graham (47th place, 24:58.1), and Gina Majczyk (51st place, 25:33.6).

Rohwer and Gornik earned second team All-OAC honors by finishing in the top 18.

Rounding out the lineup was Katrina Heil (59th place, 27:15.3) and Megan Morcio (59th place, 27:17.8).

The Blue and Gold's remaining schedule is highlighted by the Great Lakes Regional Championship on November 12th and potentially the NCAA Division III National Championship on November 19th.