Led by seniors Alex Dolwick and Samantha Yates, the men’s and women’s cross country teams both won their fourth straight ODAC titles on Oct. 27 at the Kernstown Battlefield in Shenandoah, Virginia.

The men totaled 27 points en route to the program’s 13th overall ODAC title. Lynchburg placed second with 60 points and Bridgewater finished third with 79 points.

Dolwick finished second overall in the 8k race with a time of 25:59.40. Hank Patrick, ’19, finished close behind in third place with a time of 26:10.50. Austin Kinne, ’20, finished fifth and Ethan Bernstein, ’22, finished seventh. All four runners received First Team All-ODAC laurels for their top seven finishes. In addition to his All-ODAC laurels, Patrick was named scholar athlete of the year for the second straight year in cross country.

Rounding out the Generals were Second Team All-ODAC competitors Daniel Cope, ’21, who finished 10th and Freddie Marx, ’21, who finished 11th. Jack Douglass, ’22, narrowly missed out on all conference recognition by one spot, as he placed 15th.

Dolwick said the four-peat is an achievement he will never forget.

“It was really special for me and the other seniors to win ODACs all four years. That’s a pretty fantastic legacy to leave with and it’s only the second time the program has won four in a row in its history,” he said.

For members of the women’s team, going into the race, they knew they would be in a close battle with Lynchburg. Yates said beating great competition made the feeling of victory even sweeter.

“It is one thing winning a championship by a large amount, as we did last year, but quite another winning a championship in a much closer and more competitive environment,” said Yates. “We had tapped into our potential as a team, and couldn’t have been happier about it.”

The Generals tallied 34 points with four runners in the top nine. Lynchburg was close behind finishing second with a score of 39 points and Bridgewater took a distant third with 83 points.

Yates paced the Generals by finishing second overall on the 6k course with a time of 22:18.00. Katie Bearup, ’20, finished close behind in fourth with a time of 23:01.20 and Maggie Seybold, ’19, finished fifth in 23:13.80. All three earned First Team All-ODAC accolades.

Julia Moody, ’20, finished ninth and Sarah Hollen, ’22, finished 14th. Both women earned Second Team All-ODAC laurels for their performances. In addition, Hollen earned ODAC’s Rookie Runner of the Meet honor.

The remaining Generals took spots 17 through 20. Katie Harris, ’21, placed 17th, Avery Schiffman, ’22, placed 18th, Didi Pace, ’21, took 19th and Kirsten McMichael, ’19, claimed 20th.

“I think this title means a lot to the six seniors. They’ve never lost an ODAC title and have played an enormous role in building the program we have today,” said women’s head coach Mike Dager.

For the women, this marks the first time the team has won four straight titles since the program won five consecutive from 2004-2008. For the men, this marks the second time in program history the team has won four straight titles, with the first time being from 2004-2007.

Both men’s and women’s team will resume competition at the NCAA South/Southeast regional on Nov. 10 at Berry College in Georgia.