By Dave Johnson

W&M Athletics

With the addition of four teams, bringing the total of this year's field to 12, the CAA Cross Country Championships present a brand-new challenge for both the William & Mary men's and women's squads. And, despite plenty of past success at the event, the Tribe go into Friday's race, which will be held in Newark, Del, as underdogs.
That's perfectly OK with head coach Forest Braden, though. He believes both teams are in good position going into the race.

"I've been really excited about where their fitness is and how smart they've been with training," Braden said. "I feel like they're in a really good place physically. I feel we should be ready to go."

The men are not only the defending champions; they've won 21 of the last 22 events. The Tribe returns two runners who finished in the top 10 last fall — sophomores Sam Pritchard (second) and Jacob Jones (third). Also back is grad student Evan Goodell (16th).

"We have a pretty experienced crew," Braden said.

Braden also expects two transfers, sophomore Nate Jennings and T.J. Corliss, to be a factor in Newark. Jennings was W&M's No. 2 finisher (91st overall) and Corliss No. 3 (100th) at the Virginia XC23 two weekends ago.

"Nate brings a real nice intensity," Braden said. "His focus and discipline have been really good. T.J. had a really good summer of training and his fall has been really good."

Based on the most-recent coaches' rankings, Stony Brook (fifth in the Northeast Region) looks to be the favorite in its first year in the Colonial. Northeastern, which ended the Tribe's 20-year run in 2020, will also be a factor.

But for William & Mary, winning the CAA Championship is always the mission.

"They realize what the teams before them have done and that the expectation here is to win conference," Braden said.  "Every year, that's what we go in thinking. And yet again, that'll be what we're gearing up for."

On the women's side, W&M has relied heavily on its freshman class. Sofia Istnick has been among the Tribe's top three in all four events, including No. 1 in the Paul Short Run and Virginia XC23. She was 28th overall at U.Va.

Catherine Garrison was the Tribe's top finisher at the CNU Regional Preview and Charlotte Opener. She was No. 1 overall at CNU.

"The freshman class has a really nice energy and talent level," Braden said. "Along with some of our returners, they've been a big improvement from last year. It's a real cohesive group that is working well together."

Sophomore Arianna DeBoer has been the epitome of consistent with top-three finishes among the team in all four meets, including second (33rd overall) at U.Va. Braden said sophomore Lucy Young and juniors Annie Wicker and Emily Sell have made big strides from last year.

The women's program won 13 out of 16 CAA Championships from 2003-18, but Elon has won the last three.

"We've got some good women's teams in there," Braden said. "Like on the men's side, we're not the favorites going in. But when we won in '18, we weren't the favorites, either. They raced so fearlessly and got after it.

They'll get after it and go for the win this year. Even though we're underdogs, it'll help us out this year and for the future years having that kind of belief in ourselves."

With Hampton University, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T and Stony Brook participating, there will be plenty of competition on Friday. The men's 8K race gets underway at 10 a.m.with the women's 6K directly following at 11 a.m. 

"It'll be interesting to see how things stack up with more teams," Braden said. "The scores aren't going to be quite as low. The fourth and fifth runner, they always matter, but they'll really impact it more with deeper fields."