EMU runners picked high in preseason ODAC polls

ODAC coaches have a lot of respect for the EMU cross country programs, as evidenced by the league’s preseason polls.

The women’s team was voted third in a very tight race, while the men came in fourth.

Eastern Mennonite’s women return most of their runners from 2016, when they finished third in the ODAC Championships and tenth at the South/Southeast Regional Championships. That strong core earned the Royals 92 points in the preseason poll, just three points behind Roanoke but also a single point ahead of both Bridgewater and Lynchburg. Megan Good (Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) earned All-ODAC Second Team status as a freshman, while senior Kat Lehman (Dover, Ohio/Dover) also returns. Lehman advanced to the NCAA National Championships in each of her first two seasons and was the ODAC Scholar-Athlete last year.

On the men’s side, the Royals garnered 68 points, just ahead of fifth-place Roanoke at 66. Contrary to the women, however, the men lost most of their top runners from last year, including three-time All-Region runner Alec Thibodeaux. They were fourth at the ODAC meet and 11th at regionals.

EMU’s runners start the new year on Sept. 2 at the Hyder-McMahill Invitational hosted by Montreat College in Black Mountain, N.C.

The program will be headed this fall by alum and former All-American Hannah Chappell-Dick, who was recently hired as the interim cross country coach.