The Washington and Lee cross country teams finished at nationals with the women placing 15th and the men earning a program-best 20th-place finish.
The women’s team improved its pre-meet ranking by two positions. The top three finishers were All-American Olivia Warr, ’27, in fourth (21:14.9); Lydia Harvey, ’27, in 50th (22:10.1); and Reese Brown, ’27, in 140th (23:06.7).
Women’s Coach Michael Dager said his team’s biggest goal was to avenge its second-place finish behind Emory at regionals.
“Our goal was to try and get them back at nationals, which we were able to do and take advantage of our top two finishers being a good bit ahead of their top two finishers,” Dager said.
The men’s team continued its momentum from winning the South Region championship into the nationals race. The top three finishers were Keaton Rush, ’26, in 69th (24:59.9) ; Sam Daunt, ’28, in 70th (25:01.1); and Thomas Franklin, ’27, in 138th (25:36.5).
For Men’s Coach Brandon Spalding, closing the year with the program’s most successful season allowed him to reflect on the team’s progress over the years, from roster size increases to culture building.
“I think we can look back on every single year and there have been small improvements that we’ve made within the program,” Spalding said. “That doesn’t happen overnight.”
For both teams, the race-day environment differed from anything they had seen all year. Daunt said nationals draw big crowds and fuel an intense race.
“The crowd is no joke,” Daunt said. “It’s the loudest race I’ve ever been a part of.”
Brown said she felt uncharacteristically nervous before the race but settled in quickly.
“As soon as the gun went off, the nerves went away, and I realized I had work to do,” she said.
Harvey said her team expected to finish 21st to 25th and that its dedication and hard work paid off in its top-15 result.
“That just makes a difference when everyone is buying into one mission,” she said.
The mentality of both teams is the same. Brown, Harvey and Rush noted the closeness of their rosters, which helps them push for one another, even through abnormal heat on race day.
“It really saved us during the day. Other teams were getting scared by the heat and kind of falling out,” Rush said.
Spalding said Robert Cooper, ’27, fell behind in the pack toward the end of the race because of the heat. However, he said Cooper showed his will to muscle himself across the finish line.
“We try and work on all the controllables that we can in our preparation,” Spalding said. “Sometimes you just don’t know how the body is going to react.”
Both coaches pointed out their young rosters and the excitement they have for next season.
“We’re a young team with six people returning from the group that ran on race day, Dager said. “That’s really exciting to have that many people with national experience on the roster next year.”
Both teams now shift gears as aspirations for the indoor and outdoor track seasons come into focus.
Brown said she aims to repeat as the outdoor steeplechase ODAC champion and hopes for strong team success.
“We can all say we’re looking forward to a shot at the triple crown again, which is winning cross-country, indoor and then outdoor ODACs,” she said.
On the men’s side, Spalding said he believes the momentum from winning regionals and the performance at nationals should propel the track team into a strong indoor and outdoor season.
The men’s season opens with the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston on Dec. 6. The women and a group of runners from the men’s team kick off their indoor season with the Colonel Bev Read Opener here in Lexington at Virginia Military Institute.
