FOREST, Va. --- Nearly the entire ODAC cross country sponsorship was in action in week five at one of four separate events. Each meet featured championship level distances for the first time, with several strong performances forecasting a strong championship season beginning in a few weeks.

This week's ODAC Runners of the Week both shined on the national stage -- Lynchburg's Max Sparks and Stephanie Burnett.

Below are entries for both winners from today's cross country release. Most weeks this fall, the following schedule will be used for awards reporting:

• Sundays: football
• Mondays: field hockey, soccer, volleyball (basketball and swimming when they begin)
• Tuesdays: cross country (indoor track when it begins)
• Wednesdays: golf

For more on ODAC athletics, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK Max Sparks | Lynchburg | Sr. Sparks, a senior from Canton, Conn., put together a stellar performance at the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic/NCAA Pre-National Meet hosted by Spalding University at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. Sparks set a new Lynchburg program record for eight-kilometer courses, snapping the mark (24:43.00) of eventual national champion Ricky Flynn in 2009. Sparks used a 4:55.10 per-mile pace to post a time of 24:27.0 as the new top mark in the ODAC this season. He finished fourth overall in the national field, less than 16-seconds off the winning time (24:11.4) posted by Simon Heys from Wilmington College (Ohio). Sparks' effort helped Lynchburg to seventh out of 42 competing teams. Click to learn more about the past week in ODAC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK Stephanie Burnett | Lynchburg | Gr. Burnett, a graduate student from Midlothian, Va., posted one of two (with Kelsey Lagunas) top-25 finishes for Lynchburg in a strong showing at the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic/NCAA Pre-National Meet hosted by Spalding University at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky. Burnett, already the Hornets all-time record holder (21:40.9) in six-kilometer races from the NCAA regional in 2019, is well on her way to challenging that record book entry after posting a time of 22:50.3. She used a 6:07.5 per-mile pace to finish 20th overall out of 278 competitors in a deep national field and post the best 6K time in the ODAC this season. Lynchburg placed sixth (204) out of 37 teams in the meet table. Click to learn more about the past week in ODAC WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF THE WEEK