GREENSBORO, N.C.- Bridgewater College took both the Men’s and the Women’s Cross Country titles at the 2014 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Championships, held at Guilford College’s Meadows course on a wet and windy Saturday morning and afternoon.
Washington and Lee’s Ian McDonald won the men’s eight-kilometer race with a time of 26:20.2. McDonald won the race by 7.1 seconds. The Generals finished third in the race with 68 points, claiming three of the top ten spots.
All seven Bridgewater runners on the men’s side placed in the top-14 of the race with four students in the top 10, leading the Eagles to the ODAC crown with 37 points. Luke Sohl (26:48.8) led Bridgewater harriers with a fifth place finish while Matt Denlinger (25:51.9) finished behind Sohl for sixth place. Keith Thomas (26:52.3) and ODAC Rookie of the Year Trey Gibson (26:54.8) followed for seventh and eighth place finishes.
Eastern Mennonite’s Ryan Gehman (26:28.7) led the Royals with a third place finish. The Royals claimed three of the top-14 spots in the race, bolstering Eastern Mennonite to a second place finish with 68 points. Roanoke finished fourth with 98 points thanks to a second-place finish from Harrison Toney (26:27.3).
Meet host Guilford finished ninth with 278 points, led by Nick Reynolds, placing 49th with a time of 29:48.5.
Bridgewater’s Kaylee Kubisiak claimed the women’s crown with a six-kilomerer time of 23:35.6. The Eagles claimed three top-ten spots with Zanny Ludtke (24:16.7) finishing fourth and Mckenzie McDonald (24:41.5) placed sixth. Bridgewater held a 13-point advantage over second place Eastern Mennonite, who claimed the second and third place spots in the race. Hannah Chappell-Dick finished 9.5 seconds behind Kubisiak for second with a time of 23:45.1. ODAC Rookie of the Year Katherine Lehman (24:10.8) followed behind Chappell-Dick, placing third.
Washington and Lee finished third with 83 points thanks to a pack of their top harriers placing 11th, 12th, and 14th. Rachel Steffen (25:15.2) placed 11th, 7.8 seconds behind teammate Casey Mackintosh who placed 12th. Alana Babington (25:32.4) placed 14th, 3.5 seconds behind the next spot. Roanoke took 4th with 88 points thanks to two top-ten finishes. Caity Ashley (24:33.3) took fifth while Kerri Dalton (24:58.3) placed eighth 4.1 seconds behind entry into the top seven.
Meet host Guilford placed eighth in the race with 218 points. Rebecca Reyna (Liberty, N.C./Southern Alamance) led the Quakers with a 29th place finish thanks to a time of 26:35.8.
Bridgewater’s head coach Brian Flynn claimed both Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors. Eastern Mennonite collected both the Men’s and the Women’s Cross Country Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete Awards. Jacob Landis claimed the men’s honor while Chappell-Dick collected the women’s honor.