Sweet Briar Cross Country Club members line up at the start of the VMI Season Opener, Saturday, Sept. 1, at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington. Photos by John Ramsey.

News from the Cross Country Club

From staff reports

First-year Ana-Elisa Bryant runs at VMI's invitational Sept. 1.

The Sweet Briar Cross Country Club competed Sept. 1 and 8 in Lexington, Va.

Over the two weekends, personal goals were met and two runners, seniors Laura Gandy and Tiffany Meadows, ran in their first races. Prior to this season, neither had ever competed in a running event.

On Sept. 1, the club ran in the Virginia Military Institute’s Season Opener against teams from VMI, Radford University, Concord University and Lynchburg College. The 4,000-meter (2.49-mile) race was held on a rolling, all-grass course at the Virginia Horse Center.

Sweet Briar’s Ana-Elisa Bryant ’11 was the first Vixen to cross the finish line, ahead of several competitors from NCAA Division I schools. Her time of 19 minutes, 4 seconds earned her 21st place.

Following Bryant were Amy Overman ’10, 21:16, 24th; Carlie Adams ’10, 21:44, 25th; Anna Edwards ’10, 22:23, 26th; Adella Robinson ’10, 24:08, 28th, and Laura Gandy ’08, 24:20 and 29th.

On Sept. 8, the club traveled to Washington & Lee University for the Generals Cross Country Invitational. More than 100 women from 15 different colleges and universities raced on the hilly 6,000-meter (3.7-mile) course.

Sweet Briar defeated Ferrum and West Virginia Institute of Technology, placing 11th of 13 teams. Two schools, Averett University and Lynchburg College, did not field full teams.

A team must have five runners in order to score, and scores are based on finishing position. For example, a perfect score of 15 would result if a team’s runners placed first, second, third, fourth and fifth overall.

The results for Sweet Briar were as follows: Ana-Elisa Bryant ’11, 30:07, 51st place; Amy Overman ’10, 33:59, 79th; Carlie Adams ’10, 35:18, 88th; Anna Edwards ’10, 36:12, 90th; Laura Gandy ’08, 36:47, 92nd, and Tiffany Meadows, 43:38, 106th.

Other schools competing included Randolph, Emory & Henry, Roanoke, Greensboro, Southern Virginia, Salem, Bridgewater, Washington & Lee, Guilford and Catholic.

On Saturday, Sept. 15, the club travels to Farmville for the Longwood Invitational. The race starts at 11 a.m. at Longwood Golf Club.