Both W&L Teams Win ODAC Championships

HARRISONBURG, Va. -- The Washington and Lee men's and women's cross country teams both claimed the ODAC Championship on Saturday afternoon. The W&L men finished first of eight teams, while the women were first of seven teams.

For the men, junior Nathan Johnson (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County) won the race with a time of 28:16.56 en route to ODAC Runner of the Year and ODAC Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

Freshman Alex Mahoney (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier Academy) finished second overall in a time of 28:25.24, while senior Wes Bell (Dalton, Ga./McCallie School) placed seventh with a time of 29:38.33. Freshman Andrew Friski (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County) also turned in an All-ODAC performance by placing ninth overall (29:57.18).

On the women's side, freshman Lindsay Erickson (Silver Spring, Md./Stone Ridge) earned ODAC Runner and Rookie of the Year accolades by winning the race in a time of 24:42.89. Sophomore Tippins Stone (Nashville, Tenn./Harpeth Hall) finished second overall (25:58.15), while freshman Kelley Zwart (Lexington, Va./Rockbridge County), junior Betsy Frayer (Grand Rapids, Mich./East Grand Rapids), sophomore Jenny Ratzel (Elm Grove, Wisc./Brookfield East) and sophomore Debra Kubas (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) all earned All-ODAC honors. Zwart crossed the tape fourth overall (26:40.81), Frayer finished eighth (27:01.24), Ratzel placed 10th (27:19.47) and Kubas placed 11th (27:22.31).

W&L's John Tucker and Kris Hoey both took home the ODAC Coach of the Year award as W&L won both the men's and women's championship for the first time since 1994.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Sat., Nov. 13 as it competes in the NCAA South/Southeast Region Championships held in Atlanta, Ga.