Cavaliers to Open Cross Country Season Saturday at Richmond

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s cross country programs are set to open the 2022 Cross Country campaign at the Spider Alumni Open in Richmond, Va. on Saturday (Sept. 3). The men’s 6k race will start at 9:15 a.m. followed by the women’s 4k at 9:50 a.m.

Fans can follow the action through a live results link posted to VirginiaSports.com. Updates will also be available on the program’s official Twitter account (@UVATFCC).

Competing for the Hoos

Virginia will have 13 women and 14 men participating in the meet. The men’s season opener will feature some familiar faces as 12 returners will line up for the Hoos. Kenton Bachmann and Griffin McCauley, two members of a strong Virginia recruiting class will make their debuts for the Cavaliers.

On the women’s side a group of six returners are set to be led by Margot Appleton in her second season while seven Cavaliers will make their Virginia debuts including Esther Seeland and Rebecca Story.

Men’s Competitors:

Billy Atkinson, Kenton Bachmann, Justin Diehl, Jack Eliason, Kellen Hasle, Jacob Hunter, Andrew Jones, Nick Karayanis, Griffin McCauley, Conor Murphy, Jacob Plummer, Johnny Rogers, Ian Sellors, and Justin Wachtel

Women’s Competitors:

Margot Appleton, Claire Frasier Bolton, Addison Cox, Ellie Desmond, Katie Dorsey, Lila Fenner, Luci Illnicki-Lambert, Linnaea Kavulich, Amelia Maughan, Esther Seeland, Rebecca Story, and Anna Workman

Up Next:

Virginia will host its first of three meets at Panorama Farms this season on Friday, September 16. The Virginia Invitational will start at 9:30 a.m. and feature a 6k for the men and a 5k for the women.

ACC Polls

The ACC announced its preseason predicted order of finish on Friday (Sept. 2) based on voting by the conference’s coaches. Virginia is set to host the ACC Championship meet at Panorama Farms on Friday, Oct. 28.

Here is a look at the 2022 ACC Cross Country Coaches’ Preseason Polls. First-place votes are in parenthesis followed by total points:

ACC Women

1. NC State (15) – 255
2. North Carolina – 195
3. Notre Dame – 188
4. Florida State – 173
5. Virginia – 149
6. Syracuse – 145
7. Duke – 132
8. Boston College – 128
9. Wake Forest – 105
10. Virginia Tech – 101
11. Georgia Tech – 96
12. Pitt – 64
13. Louisville – 41
14. Miami – 37
15. Clemson – 21

ACC Men

1. Wake Forest (8) – 210
2. Notre Dame (5) – 205
3. North Carolina (1) – 193
4. Virginia (1) – 164
5. Syracuse – 162
6. Florida State – 150
7. NC State – 149
8. Duke – 132
9. Virginia Tech – 99
10. Pitt – 86
11. Louisville – 79
12. Georgia Tech – 62
13. Boston College – 57
14. Clemson – 36
15. Miami – 16