Women's Cross Country Season Preview

8/31/2023 9:00:00 AM

LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee Women's Cross Country team, No. 30 in the national poll and third in the region, opens its 2023 season on Friday night.

Head Coach Michael Dager, entering into his tenth season with the Blue and White, welcomes 24 harriers to campus including eight first-year student-athletes ready to compete for the Generals on the course.

Washington and Lee returns with four of the top-7 runners from last year including NCAA Championships qualifier, junior Kristen Clodgo.

USTFCCCA NATIONAL POLL

With four of the top-7 runners from last year returning, the Washington and Lee University women'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 Wednesday.

The Generals are third in the USTFCCCA South Region after finishing third at the 2022 regional meet and earned the 30th position in this year's national preseason poll. Junior Kristen Clodgo returns to the lineup and will bring NCAA Championships experience after qualifying for the final meet as a sophomore.

W&L sits behind ODAC foe, No. 14 University of Lynchburg, the 2022 regional champs. The 19th-ranked Emory Eagles are picked second in the region. Christopher Newport and Catholic round out the top-5.

From the Midwest region, Wartburg, the 2022 third-place finishers, received all 10 first-place votes and is projected to win the 2023 championship. The reigning National Champs, Johns Hopkins, is picked sixth with 303 points.

National Poll | Regional Poll

In lieu of a conference preseason poll, the ODAC Associate Commissioner, JJ Nekoloff, spoke with three coaches from around the league to examine the conference landscape for the upcoming season.

2023 ODAC Cross Country Preview

SCHEDULE PREVIEW

The Generals open up on Friday night at Shippensburg's Galen Piper Invitational then return to Pennsylvania for the Lebanon Valley College Invite on Saturday, September 9.

W&L will get a chance to preview the 2023 NCAA DIII National Championships course on September 23 and October 7. Dickinson College hosts the Long/Short invite followed by the NCAA Preview meet. The course is on the site of Big Springs High School in Newville, Pa.

Following the two weekends of strong national fields, the Generals will gear up for ODAC Championships. On October 13th Roanoke will host the XC Invitational at Green Hill Park in Salem, Va. The Blue and White will race on Friday night, take the following weekend off from competition, then return to the park for the ODAC Championships.

The women will race at noon following the conclusion of the men's race at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 28.

From there, the Blue and White will continue the postseason march. 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.

Kristen Clodgo runs in the 2022 NCAA DIII Championship's race.

KEY RETURNERS

The Blue and White finished second in the league's championship meet. W&L will return two All-ODAC selections from the 2022 race including Elise Molinaro (8th place), Kristen Clodgo (9th place), Sophia Breshi (15th), and Claire Hamlet (17th).

Junior Mimi Kemp has also had success in the postseason. Kemp was named Second Team All-ODAC in 2021.

Regionally, the Generals saw similar success: Clodgo placed 17th and subsequently qualified for the NCAA Championships. After Clodgo, Breschi, Molinaro and Hamlet all finished in the Top-35 of the women's 6k and were named All-Region for their finishes.

The 2023 Women's Cross Country Captains: Kate Barnes, Mimi Kemp and Em Becker

Kate Barnes, a senior from Little Rock, Arkansas has a pair of top-30 finishes at the ODAC Championships. In 2021, as a sophomore, Barnes took 25th in the championship race on the campus of Bridgewater.

During the 2022 campaign, Barnes took 27th at Kernstown Battlefield. Shenandoah's host site is much more challenging than BC due to elevation change and terrain. The 2023 championship course more-closely resembles the former site and will set Barnes up for a higher-finish during her senior season.

In the classroom, Kate studies philosophy and religion and minors in French. Barnes spent the summer working on her religion capstone project and completed a majority of the independent research required.

Barnes was named a W&L Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-ODAC honoree each of her first three years.

Em Becker, a Floral Park, New York native, has three years of W&L cross country experience under her belt.

The senior did not compete at the ODAC Championships as a first-year or sophomore but placed 47th at the championship meet as a junior.

Becker, who focuses more on middle-distance events during track and field season, is a business administration major and minors in mass communications. In the classroom, Becker has recorded six W&L Scholar-Athlete awards and has been named Academic All-ODAC each year.

Outside of the classroom and sport, the senior is heavily involved on campus. Becker is the Vice President of Online Logistics for University Ambassadors, is the state chair for Hawaii in this year's Mock Convention, a career fellow and a Student Consulting team leader.

This summer, Em interned for Bain & Company.

Junior Mimi Kemp rounds out the captain's group.

The Richmond, Virginia native was named Second Team All-ODAC as a first-year member of the squad and placed 13th at the 2021 ODAC Championships.

On the regional stage, that same year Kemp came inside the top-35 and was the 34th runner to cross the finish line to earn all-region honors at the South Region Championships.

As a sophomore Kemp placed 25th at the league's meet and did not race at regionals.

The neuroscience major has been named a W&L Scholar-Athlete, Academic All-ODAC and to the President's List. The classics minor is involved in volunteering at local elementary schools, a youth summer camp counselor, and with the Brain Exercise Initiative. Kemp has spent her summer with Pfizer Summer Growth Experience as an intern in the clinical data scientist department.

Preseason has gone extremely well and everyone is excited about the results of our annual time trials. The times posted were the second-fastest in team history and provide a really strong base for our season.

Our team captains and leadership group have done a tremendous job leading a talented group of newcomers and younger teammates.

We are all looking forward to getting the season underway this weekend at Shippensburg.

Head Coach Michael Dager

Washington and Lee University

Schedule

Events