Men's Cross Country Season Preview

8/31/2023 12:20:00 PM

LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee Men's Cross Country team, receiving votes in the national poll and predicted third in the region, opens the 2023 season on Saturday morning.

Head Coach Brandon Spalding, heading into his 11th season leading the Generals, will have 17 harriers toeing the starting line in Blue and White. New faces on the squad include seven first-year student-athletes to add to ten returners. Of the ten, five members of the squad have previously earned All-Region accolades.

USTFCCCA NATIONAL POLL

The Washington and Lee University men's cross country team appears in the regional and national preseason polls as announced by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association last week,

The Generals are third in the USTFCCCA South Region after finishing fourth at the 2022 regional meet and earned the 34th position in the national poll.

W&L sits behind ODAC foe, No. 15 University of Lynchburg, who holds the top spot in the preseason regional ranks. Ranked 26th nationally, reigning South Region Champions Emory University, is slated in the second position. Berry and Christopher Newport round out the South's top-5.

National Poll | Regional Poll

In lieu of a conference pre-season poll, the ODAC Associate Commissioner, JJ Nekoloff, spoke with three coaches from around the league, including W&L Head Coach Brandon Spalding, to examine the conference landscape for the upcoming season.

2023 ODAC Cross Country Roundtable

SCHEDULE PREVIEW

The Generals open up the 2023 slate this weekend at the Spider Alumni Open at the University of Richmond on Saturday morning.

The Blue and White will compete at the CNU Invitational at Christopher Newport (September 15) and at the Paul Short Invitational (September 30) at Lehigh University.

The Generals will then preview the league championship's course at the Roanoke XC Invitational on Friday, October 13. The afternoon meet will be held at Green Hill Park in Salem, Va. The league will return on Saturday, October 28 for the ODAC Championships.

Following the Friday night preview, a portion of the team will run the following day at the Mike Woods Invitational at SUNY Geneseo on October 14.

After conference championship weekend, Regional Championships Saturday is set for November 11; W&L will travel to Berry College's Clara Bowl for the south region's meet.

The 2023 Division III National Championships will be held at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa. Dickinson College is hosting the Saturday, November 18 meet.

KEY RETURNERS

Washington and Lee returns four 2022 USTFCCCA All-Region runners in Chris Ruiz, Jackson Jacobs, Colin. Verrett and Row Sterne.

Of the returners, Ruiz had the highest finish at last year's regional meet. Ruiz took 18th to finish inside the top-20 with a time of 26:33.8. Jacobs placed 30th and the ODAC Co-Rookie of the Year, Colin Verrett, took 33rd.

Sterne had the highest ODAC Championships finish and was named First Team All-ODAC. Sterne placed sixth with a time of 25:54.8 at the leauge's meet. Sterne then followed the strong performance with another accolade, he rounded out the All-Region selections where he took 34th place at the CNU-hosted South Region Championships meet.

Josh Fingerhut also returns to the course. Fingerhut was an All-ODAC and All-Region selection in 2021's cross country season. The senior was named ODAC Rookie of the Meet in 2021.

Verrett, the highest-finishing rookie at the regional championship meet, is coming off a summer where he qualified for the USATF U20 Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Verrett competed in the 10,000m run and took 10th with a time of 35:11.6 and looks to carry the momentum into the cross country season.

Colin Verrett - Photo by Johnny Pace, Pace Photography

Off the cross country course, Fingerhut is an economics and environmental studies double major who is serving as the Financial Controller for Mock Convention. Fingerhut was also elected to serve as the Executive Director for the Williams Investment Society this year.

The senior was a First Team All-ODAC honoree in 2021 with a third place finish and took 29th place at the South Region Championships. Fingerhut battled injury and illness on and off last season, he is healthy this year and primed for a strong comeback.

In the classroom,Josh is a USTFCCCA All-Academic Squad member in addition to being Academic All-ODAC, W&L Scholar-Athlete, and President's List honoree. Fingerhut was named the ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the year for the 2022 cross country season.

On the course, Jackson is a two-time All-ODAC honoree and was named all-region last year after he finished 30th at the regional championship meet.

In 2022 Jackson placed 11th at the ODAC Championships. In 2021, Jcobs took 12th at the league's meet and followed it with a 38th-place showing in his first appearance on the regional championship stage.

Academically, Jacobs is a computer science and politics double major and has numerous awards for his efforts. He is a USTFCCCA All-Academic athlete, named to the W&L Scholar-Athlete list, the President's List and is a CSC Academic All-District honoree.

Outside of the classroom and running, the senior is a member of the chess club and works with Traveller on campus. This summer he completed a software engineering internship with RVO health.

Hayden Roberts, a senior for the Blue and White is an economics and geology double major and Keelty Scholar.

On the course he is an All-Region athlete after finishing the 8K in 26:24.30 and took 22nd place for the south region during the 2021 season. In 2022 Roberts took 37th at the ODAC Championships

This summer, the Lutherville, Maryland native, Hayden worked as an environmental consultant in Houston.

In the classroom, Roberts is an Academic All-ODAC, W&L Scholar-Athlete and USTFCCCA academic honoree.

Chris Ruiz experienced a break-out junior year and placed 18th at the South Regional Championships to earn all-region recognition.

Ruiz was named Second Team All-ODAC after taking 12th at the league's meet in 2022.

Academically, Ruiz is an economics major and earned Academic All-ODAC recognition each of the past three years.

In the community, Ruiz volunteers as a youth soccer coach and interned with Samburu.

Junior Row Sterne was named co-captain following an outstanding sophomore campaign.

Sterne had the highest W&L finish at the ODAC Championships with a First Team All-ODAC nod at sixth-place. At the regional meet, Row placed 34th and was crowned all-region with the finish.

In his rookie season, Sterne placed 25th at the ODAC Championships.

The History major was named Academic-All-ODAC, a W&L Scholar-Athlete and was named to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Squad last year.

Outside of the classroom, Sterne is involved with Ducks Unlimited, W&L's fly fishing club, and volunteers with river clean-ups and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

I’m really excited to start the season with this group. The squad is already meshing very well and will build on that teamwork throughout the year.

We’re welcoming the most talented first-year class that we’ve ever had. We have an experienced group of returners to lead us up front and a competitive schedule to be in position for a postseason opportunity.

Two of our senior captains, Josh Fingerhut and Chris Ruiz are coming off of strong junior years where they each moved themselves into the conversation of some of the best runners in program history.

Overall, this team has a lot of depth. There are plenty of runners who will make a push into the scoring-seven by the end of the year. We’re looking forward to a great fall!

Head Coach Brandon Spalding

Washington and Lee University

Schedule

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