Emory, Va. - Head coach Tom Antenucci and the cross country teams have continued to improve throughout his three year tenure at Emory & Henry College. In each season Antenucci has been at the helm, both the men and women’s teams have finished higher in the ODAC Championships. This season the women’s team finished in 7th and the men finished in 5th. About the finish, Antenucci said, “With a solid recruiting class of 7 men and 4 women we had high expectations to move up in the ODAC rankings, and we did just that.“ Not only was this the best year ever for E&H cross country, but their future is even brighter. Coach Antenucci has a promising and bright future with the student-athletes he has recruited. 15 out of his 18 runners are freshmen or sophomores. The youth of these teams bodes well for the future of Emory & Henry Cross Country.
One of the bright spots on the women’s team was freshman, Meg Greene. Greene set the standard for the women’s team this season. At the ODAC Championships, Greene finished 10th, which placed her on the All-Conference team. That was the first time an E&H woman achieved that honor since 1991. “The season was full of ups and downs, but at conference I just told myself to stop thinking about the negatives and do what I know to do! Finishing tenth was a blessing I couldn't ask for it to have gone any better. I'm pumped to see how next year is going to go.” At that meet, Greene was the second fastest freshman in the conference. In addition, the freshman from Charlotte, NC set the E&H 6K record at the Southeast Region Meet with a time of 24:28. Freshmen Olivia Wyatt and Lindsey Pratt also beat the previous 6K record this season. Wyatt finished with a time of 26:15 at the Berry Invitational and Pratt finished with a time of 26:14 at the Southeast Region Meet. These young runners will look to run passed more ODAC teams in the future.
The men’s team put together a very solid all around season. This season’s team was the first squad to place 5 runners under the 29:00 mark in the 8K in E&H history. In fact, sophomore Alex Cooper and sophomore Kevin Watts the third and fourth E&H runners to ever break the 28:00 mark in the 8K. Cooper ran 27:38 at the Berry Invitational, while Watts finished with 27:58 at the Southeast Regional. About this season, Watts expressed, “This was without a doubt the best season that I have had during my time at E&H, and having it be the best finishes at ODAC's and at the NCAA south/southeast regional in school history just made it much better. The entire team put in countless hours in the weight room, working out on the track, and at the Creeper trail doing long runs striving to get better every day.” Freshman Michael Cawood completed his season as the third fastest freshman in the ODAC. Cawood ran a personal best 28:00 at the Southeast Region Meet. The men will look to their continued improvement in the future.
As a program, both teams recorded their best finishes in region history at the Southeast Region meet. Both teams also recorded their best averages in school history as well. The men averaged 28:10 for the 8K, while the women averaged a 26:38 finish for the 6K. Both teams are poised for more improvement next year and look to move up 1 to 2 spots in the ODAC and into the top half of the Regional Rankings. Coach Antenucci continued, “Going into next year we will have […] loftier goals, and will look to move up 1-2 spots on the men’s side and 2 or more spots on the women’s side. With another good recruiting class, these goals are certainly attainable and I’m excited to see this team continue to develop.”
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