2022-23 ODAC Cross Country News
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ODAC Cross Country Runners Close Season at NCAA Championships
November 19, 2022ODAC competitors took part in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon. A total of 19 runners from league schools took part in six-kilometer (women) and eight-kilometer (men) races at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich. -
Lynchburg Commands ODAC Cross Country Special Awards on Eve of National Championships
November 18, 2022The University of Lynchburg has already had a banner cross country season with both of its teams preparing to compete in the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships in East Lansing, Mich., on Saturday. The success of the program was further highlighted on Friday with the announcement of the 2022 ODAC Cross Country Special Awards as part of the all-conference process. In a vote of the leagues' head coach, Lynchburg nearly swept all six special honors announced for the first time today with only a tied situation for men's rookie of the year preventing a clean sweep. Hornets standouts Kelsey Lagunas and Frank Csorba garnered ODAC Runner of the Year honors, while Lynchburg mentor Jake Reed collected both ODAC Coach of the Year laurels. Lynchburg first-year Hailey Smith collected ODAC Rookie of the Year recognition on the women's ledger, while teammate Jonathan Cobb and Washington and Lee University first-year Colin Verrett shared men's rookie distinction. The ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurances Scholar-Athletes --- W&L's Carolyn Todd and Josh Fingerhut --- were announced along with the All-ODAC First and Second Teams following the ODAC Championships hosted by Bridgewater College earlier this fall. A complete listing of honors is posted below.
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Cross Country Regional Recap: Lynchburg Women Win, Llaneza and Csorba Go 1-2
November 13, 2022The news was great on Saturday following the Division III South Region Cross Country Championships on Saturday and got better on Sunday with the Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships Committees' announcement of the national championship fields. The University of Lynchburg won its first-ever women's region crown and came within one point in the men's ranks of a team sweep following competition at Lee Hall Mansion in Newport News, Va. The Hornets men did not have to wait long to learn they will be joining their women's teammates as team competitors in next weekends national event at Forest Akers East Golf Course on the campus of Michigan State University in Lansing, Mich. A handful of individuals from ODAC schools also qualified for national competition.
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Lynchburg Makes History in Sweeping ODAC Cross Country Titles
October 29, 2022History was made on Saturday at Kernstown Battlefield at the 2022 ODAC Cross Country Championships. The University of Lynchburg swept both titles for the second straight season, marking the ninth consecutive year that one school has hoisted both league trophies. But this season's sweep featured an added bonus. Lynchburg runners finished first-thru-fifth in BOTH races, racking up the minimum 15 points to lead the team table. This is the first time in ODAC men's cross country championship history and second time in women's league event annals (1994) that a school earned the minimum point allotment. Lynchburg has now won a record 19 men's cross country championships, while its women's total improves to eight trophies, trailing only Washington and Lee University's 19 crowns.
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Previewing the 2022 ODAC Cross Country Championships
October 28, 2022The ODAC Cross Country Championships return to Kernstown Battlefield in Kernstown, Va., just outside of Winchester. Shenandoah University will serve as hosts for the second time, joining the event it hosted in 2018. This year's course uses a large area off Route 11 and features a mix of tight and soft turns with several longer straightaways to provide variety for both fields of runners. The women's six-kilometer race kicks off the championship at 11:00 a.m. ET. The men's eight-kilometer competition follows at 12:00 p.m. ET. Timing will be provided by Blue Ridge Timing and posted to the results site at several intervals throughout the race as well as at the conclusion of each competition. Streaming for the event is provided by Shenandoah University via Blueframe Technology.
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ODAC Cross Country Runners of the Week
October 25, 2022Week eight marks the final report of the season for cross country with the ODAC Championships slated for Kernstown Battlefield this weekend. League runners had just one event on the docket in prelude to the league meet with the Wildcat XC Classic hosted by Johnson & Wales in Charlotte, N.C. Women's cross country features the only award winner this week with Sweet Briar's Angelyn Wiggins taking home the final prize of the season after a program-record setting run in Charlotte.
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ODAC Cross Country Runners of the Week
October 18, 2022We are just 11 days away from the first championship of the fall season as ODAC cross country runners competed at a bevy of locations during week seven. The Roanoke Invitational featured a large portion of the conference, while others competed at a pair of inter-regional events hosted by Oberlin College (Ohio) and Rowan University (N.J.), the Aubrey Shenk Invitational at Gettysburg College, and the VertCross hosted by High Point University. League runners placed near the top in several races in each of those outings. Earning this week's ODAC Runner of the Week laurels are a pair of seniors in Lynchburg's Sam Llaneza and Washington and Lee's Carolyn Todd. Llaneza posted his second-fastest race of the season at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle, while Todd picked up her second weekly award following a strong finish at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble.
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ODAC Cross Country Runners of the Week
October 11, 2022Two events appeared on the ODAC week six cross country schedule with teams competing at either the Golden Acord Invitational hosted by Mary Baldwin University or the Royals XC Challenge hosted by Queens University (Charlotte, N.C.). Conference runners again faired well at both events, but it was the Eastern Mennonite University duo of Lucy Unzicker and Bellamy Immanuel that earn this week's ODAC Runner of the Week distinctions. Both claimed victory in their respective fields at the Golden Acorn, leading EMU to top team finishes in both events.
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ODAC Cross Country Runners of the Week
October 04, 2022Weather canceled one event for ODAC cross country runners with the annual Hagan Stone Classic lost to the rain, but that didn't keep conference athletes from competing -- and placing well -- at three other high profile meets. Those included the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University on Friday afternoon along with Saturday's Mike Woods Invitational at SUNY-Geneseo and Don Cathcart Invitational hosted by Salisbury University. Earning this week's ODAC Runner of the Week awards are both go Lynchburg athletes following outstanding showings in fields in upwards of 380 competitors. Kelsey Lagunas posted the second-fastest 6K time in Lynchburg women's cross country history, while Frank Csorba became the first men's competitor to break 24-minutes on an 8K course in ODAC history. Both established the fastest times in the ODAC at those distances this season.
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ODAC Cross Country Runners of the Week
September 27, 2022ODAC cross country runners competed in just two events over the weekend. One was a big affair with Shenandoah University hosting its annual Hornet Harrier & Commonwealth Challenge, which doubled this year as the ODAC Preview with the conference championship meet slated for the Kernstown Battlefield course on Halloween weekend. Earning this week's ODAC Runner of the Week awards are Eastern Mennonite University senior Clay Kauffman and Shenandoah graduate student Erin Atkinson. Kauffman won the men's eight-kilometer races at Kernstown, while Atkins finished second overall in the women's six-kilometer competition.
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ODAC Cross Country Runners of the Week
September 20, 2022Big performances continued with this weeks ODAC cross country report. League runners took part in pair of events over the weekend with the Bridgewater Invitational and the first larger-scale event, the NCAA South Region Preview, on the docket. Conference athletes won three titles and were the top collegiate/Division III finishers in all four races. Earning this week's ODAC Runner of the Week awards are Lynchburg standouts Frank Csorba and Sarah James. Csorba has already earn acclaimed from the USTFCCCA after winning the NCAA South Region Preview, while James was the top D-III competitor in finishing fifth overall behind four Division I runners.
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USTFCCCA Dubs Lynchburg's Csorba Division III Runner of the Week
September 19, 2022Lynchburg senior Frank Csorba was named the Division III Runner of the Week by the USTFCCCA on Monday afternoon following his first place finish at the NCAA South Region Preview on Friday.
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ODAC Cross Country Runners of the Week
September 13, 2022The first solo ODAC cross country report of the season also features an inaugural honor for our newest member. Averett University junior Anthony Ponce-Mexicano and Roanoke College senior Lauren Brown are this week's ODAC Runners of the Week. Both athletes were the top ODAC finishers at the Rooney Invitational hosted by Roanoke.
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ODAC Athletes of the Week | Cross Country, Field Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball
September 06, 2022The first full week of the 2022 season is in the books. ODAC student-athletes gave fans a treat with some near mid-season form in the early going, leading many to believe we are in for a banner campaign. Those earning ODAC Athlete of the Week awards for Tuesday, September 6, include (pictured, from left and top): Shyenne Diaz from Virginia Wesleyan women's soccer, Mairead McKibbin from Shenandoah field hockey, Abbey Clayton from VWU women's volleyball, Charles Scharf and Carolyn Todd from Washington and Lee cross country, and Kenny Robles from Lynchburg men's soccer.
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2022 ODAC Cross Country Roundtable
August 30, 2022Three of conference's head coaches -- Brandon Spalding from Washington and Lee, Jake Reed from Lynchburg, Andrew Marrocco from Shenandoah -- joined the ODAC's J.J. Nekoloff to preview the upcoming cross country season.
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Pettyjohn Brings Championship Experience to Randolph Track & Field and Cross Country
August 16, 2022Randolph director of athletics, Tom Galbraith, announced Tuesday the hiring of Todd Pettyjohn as head women's track and field / cross country coach. He will also serve as an assistant coach for the men's programs in the same sports.
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EMU's Alderfer Honored by Division III Commissioners Association
August 04, 2022Eastern Mennonite University cross country and track & field standout Isaac Alderfer was honored by the Division III Commissioners Association on Thursday afternoon as the Region VI Men's Student-Athlete of the Year.
