Virginia Opens Cross Country Season at Liberty Challenge

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s cross country teams open the 2019 season on Friday (Aug. 30) at the Liberty Challenge in Lynchburg, Va. The men’s team enters the year ranked 23rd in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s preseason poll.
 
Fans can receive updates about the race on the team’s official Twitter account (@UVATFCC).
 
Meet Information
Date: Friday: Aug. 30
Location: Liberty University – Lynchburg, Va.
• Women’s 4k: 5 p.m.
• Men’s 4k: 5:30 p.m.
 
Liberty Challenge
• The Cavaliers will compete against Liberty, Lynchburg and VMI at Friday’s race.
• Both the men and women will compete in a 4k race at Liberty University. The course is located adjacent to the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.
• Team scores will not be kept at the competition.
 
Hoos Ranked
• The men’s team opens the year ranked 23rd in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
• The Cavalier men also rank second in the southeast region according to the USTFCCCA, recording the preseason regional ranking for the fourth year in a row.
• Virginia has opened the cross country season with a USTFCCCA top 25 men’s ranking for seven consecutive seasons.
 
On the Road
• The Cavaliers will begin the cross country season on the road for the first time since 2012 when the team raced at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational in Blacksburg, Va.
• This season’s start date also marks the first time the Cavaliers have raced in August since 2014.  
 
Hoo is Returning
• The men’s team returns all but one of its top runners from last season.
• Senior Ari Klau (West Hartford, Conn.) earned All-ACC and All-Southeast Region honors during the 2018 season. He finished as the Cavaliers’ second-fastest runner at two meets, the Penn State National Open and ACC Championships.
• Senior AJ Ernst (Marblehead, Mass.) earned All-Southeast region honors with a 13th-place finish at the regional championships, while redshirt senior Alex Corbett (Burke, Va.) earned the honor with a 25th-place finish. Ernst finished second for UVA at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown and the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.
• Senior Randy Neish (Glastonbury, Conn.) was named to the All-ACC team with a 21st-place finish at the conference championships.
• Sophomore Abbey Green (Bethesda, Md.) led the women’s team, earning All-Southeast Region and All-ACC honors during her first year with the Cavaliers. Green advanced to the NCAA Championships as an individual, finishing 95th overall. She was the top runner for the Cavaliers during the 2018 season.
 
Looking Back
• The men’s team recorded a third-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, while the women’s team finished sixth at the meet.
• Four Cavaliers from the men’s team earned All-Southeast Region honors, recent graduate Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.), Ernst, Klau and Corbett. Green won the honor on the women’s side.
• At the ACC Championships, the men’s team placed fourth overall with Demarest, Klau and Neish earning All-ACC honors. Green was the top UVA female runner, being named to the All-ACC team with a ninth-place finish.
• The men’s team also recorded a first-place finish at the Penn State National Open as all five of UVA’s scoring runners finished in the top 25. Demarest, Klau and Ernst placed in the top 10 at the meet.
 
The Incoming Runners
• The men’s cross country team welcomes six incoming freshmen, while the women’s team adds four to the 2019 roster.
• The men’s team added Bryson Crites (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.), Justin Diehl (Saint Leonard, Md.), Ali Ibrahim (Glen Allen, Va.), Jacob Hunter (Leesburg, Va.), Davis Young (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Ethan Zeh (Wayne, Pa.).
• Natalie Bardach (Vienna, Va.), Coco Holliday (Nashville, Tenn.), Emma Myer (Branchville, N.J.) and Alahna Sabbakhan (Washington D.C.) join the women’s team.