The University of Lynchburg men’s and women’s cross country teams won Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) titles with senior Ricky Flynn and junior Jennie Pernisi taking first in each meet.
Flynn (Lynchburg, VA/Damascus) won his third consecutive individual title to further cement himself as one of the great runners in Lynchburg and ODAC history. Dr. Jack Toms won the ODAC Coach of the Year award ,while Nolan Compton (Manassas, VA/Osbourn Park) collected ODAC Rookie of the Year honors.
Pernisi (Camden, NY/Altmar-Parish Williamstown) paced the field to win the meet. Coach Jesse Baumann won his first ODAC Coach of the Year Award and Ashley Meyer (Springfield, MO/Glendale)brought home the ODAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award.
On the men’s side, Lynchburg recorded 33 points while second-place finisher Virginia Wesleyan posted 48 points.
Flynn is just the second player in ODAC history to win three consecutive individual titles and just the third to win three in a career. He completed the course in 26:45 and bested the second place finisher, Richy Bikko of Eastern Mennonite, by 44 seconds. Compton and Lawrence Minor (Mineral, Va/Louisa) garnered First-Team All-ODAC honors, which go to the top seven competitors. Compton placed fifth in the meet with a time of 28:03 and Minor crossed the line in 28:08 to a seventh place finish.
Ryan Van Alstine (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park) and Brandon Demers (Cypress, TX/Leonardtown) placed 9th and 11th respectively en route to making the All-ODAC Second-Team. Van Alstine recorded a time of 28:13 while Demers recorded a 28:24. Also placing for the Hornets was William Orndorff (Rockville, MD/Rockville)and Brian Robinson (Sterling, VA/Potomac Falls). Orndorff came in 17th with a time of 29:04, and Robinson had a time of 29:05 to place 19th.
The women’s cross country team won the program’s first Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) championship since the 2003 season and its sixth overall.
Lynchburg finished with 29 points and Washington & Lee placed second with 41 points. The Hornets placed five runners in the Top-10 as all five earned All-ODAC accolades. Pernisi won the event with a time of 24:06, finishing 17 seconds ahead of the runner up, Kat Telfeyan of Washington & Lee. Meyer and Molly Galloway (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) placed 3rd and 6th respectively to join Pernisi as First-Team All-ODAC runners. Meyer crossed the finish line in 24:37 while Galloway recorded a time of 25:04.
Garnering Second-Team All-ODAC honors was Aubrey Berry (Chesapeake, VA/Warren Township) and Kiley Trennepohl (Monticello, IN/The Culver Academies). They finished back-to-back in 9th and 10 place and recorded times of 25:20 and 25:22 respectively.
Both teams will look to qualify for the NCAA National Championship Meet when they travel to Greensboro, N.C., on November 14 for the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Meet at 11 a.m. The two top teams from the region automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship meet.
