W&L Harriers Place In Top 20
The Washington and Lee University women’s cross country team placed 15th of 32 teams at the NCAA Division III national meet, while the W&L men finished 20th for their best finish in program history on Saturday morning in Spartanburg, S.C.
Junior Olivia Warr led the W&L women, placing fourth of 290 harriers, completing the 6-kilometer course at Milliken Research Park in 21 minutes, 14.9 seconds. For the second year in a row, after placing ninth last year, Warr was named an All-American. Winning the women’s race on Saturday was Middlebury junior Audrey Maclean in 20:16.8.
The W&L women scored 438 points. New York University won the race with 79 points, Williams (106) placed second, while Claremont-Mudd-Scrips (133) finished third. Rounding out the top five were Johns Hopkins (140) and MIT (232).
Junior Lydia Harvey was the second runner for the W&L women, placing 50th in 22:10.1, while junior teammate Reese Brown followed in 140th in 23:06.7. Generals finishing after Brown were senior Eve Spencer (188th, 23:23.1), and freshmen Josie Engle (225th, 23:45.9), Adelaide Ellis (260th, 24:23.3) and Maddy Morgan (283rd, 25:16.4).
The Southern Virginia University women had one runner, junior Bayleigh Redd-Armstrong, competing in her first national meet. Redd-Armstrong finished 105th in 22:49.7.
The W&L men, who had placed 21st last year, scored 486 points and improved by one spot on their best-ever finish at the national meet. The Generals were coming off winning their South Regional Championship a week earlier. Wisconsin-La Crosse won the men’s national team title with 82 points, SUNY Geneseo (132) placed second, and Wartburg (133) finished third. Completing the top five were NYU (175) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (182).
Johns Hopkins senior Emmanuel Leblond won the men’s race, finishing the 8K course in 23:35. Senior Keaton Rush led the Generals, placing 69th of 291 harriers in 24:59.9, and he was followed closely by sophomore teammate Sam Daunt (70th, 25:01.1). W&L’s third runner was junior Thomas Franklin (138th, 25:36.5). Generals after Franklin were sophomore William Dunaway (144th, 25:38.7) and juniors Jackson Kedenski (224th, 26:11.5), Wyatt Benjamin (289th, 27:34.2) and Robert Cooper (291st, 30:43.2).
For more on W&L cross country, visit www.generalsports.com. To read more about SVU cross country, visit knightathletics.com.
W&L Women’s Soccer Falls In NCAAs
The W&L women’s soccer team’s run came to an end with a loss to Pomona-Pitzer on penalty kicks in the NCAA Division III Round of 16 on Saturday afternoon in Lexington.
After 90 scoreless minutes of regulation and three scoreless overtime periods, the No. 5 Sagahens (16-2-4) won the penalty shootout 4-3. Pomona-Pitzer would end its season on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 loss to Emory University (20-1-1) in the national quarterfinals in Lexington.
In Saturday’s game, W&L sophomore Kate McEnroe made five saves.
The Generals, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Tiffany Pins, finished the season with an overall record of 18-2-3 and an Old Dominion Athletic Conference record of 10-0-0, winning their second consecutive ODAC title. For more on W&L women’s soccer, visit www.generalssports.com.
SVU Women’s Netters Ousted
The SVU women’s volleyball season concluded with a 3-1 loss to Hope College in the NCAA Division III regional quarterfinals on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Pa.
The Knights (23-9) kept the match close the whole way, but Hope prevailed with a 25-21, 20-25, 26-24, 25-22 victory. Hope (23-7) would end its season with a 3-2 loss to Carnegie Mellon University in the regional semifinals on Friday in Pittsburgh.
SVU’s Aubrey Packer led all players with 18 kills, while teammate Ruby Blamires dished out 21 assists, Gracie Fulton collected 18 digs for the Knights, and Ryann Vail had eight blocks.
It was a strong season for the Knights, under the direction of third-year head coach Debby Baker. SVU went 14-4 in the USA South Athletic Conference this season and won its second consecutive conference title. For more on SVU volleyball, visit knighathletics.com.
W&L Women’s Netters Fall
The curtain closed on the W&L women’s volleyball season with a 3-0 loss to Berry College in the NCAA Division III regional quarterfinals on Thursday in Virginia Beach.
Despite a marathon second set, the Vikings won in straight sets, 25-19, 30-28, 25-16. Berry (27-7) would advance to this week’s national quarterfinals, with a pair of 3-1 wins, over Virginia Wesleyan University in the regional semifinals on Friday and over Christopher Newport University in the regional championship match on Saturday. One of Berry’s middle blockers is sophomore Maddie Dahl, a 2024 Rockbridge County High School graduate.
Cara Hamil led W&L (23-10) with 12 kills, while Vivi Vasquez had a team-high 21 digs. Also stepping up for W&L were Grace Mitchener with 18 digs, Penelope Quiles with 14 digs, and Riley Debec with two aces.
The Generals, under the direction of 26th-year head coach Bryan Snyder, went 8-3 in the ODAC this year and won their third consecutive ODAC title. For more on W&L volleyball, visit www.generalssports.com.
