She becomes the first Eastern Mennonite harrier to win an ODAC championship since Hall of Honor member won her second straight title in 2002.��The last winner for the men was Lynn Stoltzfus in 1994. Including Chappell-Dick, the women’s team landed three all-conference finishers and took third place.�� The men had one all-conference runner and were fifth overall.

Chappell-Dick has also won four of the five official races she has run this season.�� After her Oct. 19 performance at the CNU Invitational, topping a field of mostly D-I runners along with the D-III regionally-ranked Christopher Newport squad, she garnered her fourth ODAC Runner of the Week award.

The squad totaled 70 points as a team, finishing just behind second-place Bridgewater at 64.��Washington and Lee won the team title with 46 points. Rounding out the scoring were (Dover, Ohio/Dover), (St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Ogden), (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg), (Goshen, Ind./Goshen), (Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula), and (King George, Va./King George).

Not just running honors

Chappell-Dick is a senior majoring in with minors in , and . She plans on spending a year after graduation working with an intentional community/service program called (through the DOOR program) in Atlanta, Georgia, where she’d also continue training and competing with the Atlanta Track Club.

Her decision after that depends on how her training is going, she says. She may enroll in graduate school for a master’s in public health or an MBA. Chappell-Dick says she’s also interested in coaching.

She talks about her choice to attend and compete at EMU, as well as future plans, in .

Chappell-Dick was a two-time All-American in track and field last year, finishing second in the indoor mile and third in the 1500m at those respective NCAA D.III championships in 2015.

For now, though, there’s the regional and national meets to finish out the cross country season and an indoor and outdoor season of track to look forward to, as well as juggling the demands of the classroom and her extra-curricular activities.

Giving back

A leader in the classroom as well as on the field, Chappell-Dick is serving as a student representative on the�� throughout the 2015-16 academic year.

She is also working with the athletic department to rebuild the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at EMU, in which student-athletes are able to give feedback on proposed NCAA legislation, advocate for student-athletes on campus, and serve the community through various projects.

With teammate , Chappell-Dick started a track club called “FLASH” for 10 to 12-year-olds, which meets twice a week in the spring. She’s also active in Big Brothers Big Sisters and at Shalom Mennonite Church.

Working around her athletic schedule, Chappell-Dick completed her cross-cultural requirement during a summer 2014 trip to Guatemala. “We stayed with host families and attended language and cultural lessons during the day at CASAS, a program through Semilla Seminary in Guatemala City,” she said.

This semester, she is living in an intentional community theme house on campus. The goal of residents of “Bridge House” is to “bridge the gap” between first-year students and seniors with twice-monthly social gatherings.

Freshman distance runner����(Dover, Ohio/Dover) cemented her status as an elite athlete, breaking EMU’s record in the 5000m and taking second place overall at the mostly D-I meet. Lehman roasted the track to a finish of 17:43.77, finishing in between a pair of runners from the University of North Carolina. She destroyed her own EMU record of 18:10.40, set in December.

��������������ٱ�����(Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula) broke her personal record in the event, crossing in 20:15.98 to also grab the No. 8 spot in EMU’s history books.

In the 4x400m relay, the women’s foursome of����(King George, Va./King George),����(Virginia Beach, Va./Tallwood),����(Harrisonburg, Va./Spotswood) and����(Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) timed the No. 3 effort in program history at 4:20.40.

Chappell-Dick was the top D-III finisher in the mile run, taking a time of 5:16.47.����(Goshen, Ind./Goshen) clocked a season best in the 800m at 2:36.34, narrowly missing the ODAC qualifying time by 0.05 seconds. And Williams broke her PR in the 400m, timing at 1:04.62.

��(Bedford, Va./Liberty) landed a nice effort in the triple jump, measuring at 10.44m (34-3.00ft).�� Also in the field,����(Strasburg, Va./Strasburg) had a best toss of 13.02m (42-8.75ft) in the weight throw.

For the Eastern Mennonite men,����(Staunton, Va./Riverheads) had a monster toss in the shot put.�� His best heave of 14.00m (45-11.25ft) was not only the top D-III distance at the meet, but also put him third in EMU history and with the second-best throw in the ODAC this season.�� He was also solid in the weight throw, landing at 11.93m (39-1.75ft)

��(Millersville, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) punched an ODAC ticket in the 5000m, but more importantly earned the No. 2 time in the EMU record books.�� His time of 15:49.48 was only behind cross country teammate��Jacob Landis‘ 15:41.94, a record set last year.

In the 800m run, sophomore����(Perkasie, Pa./Christopher Dock) earned the third-best finish in EMU history with a time of 1:57.01.����(Staunton, Va./Fore Defiance) wasn’t far behind as he landed at No. 4 in the EMU books at 1:57.77.

The duo also ran in the mile.�� Denlinger again crossed first in 4:31.19 to take seventh in program history, while Thibodeaux had his season best run at 4:35.20.

��(Philadelphia, Pa./La Salle) earned a trip to the ODAC Championships in the 200m, timing at 23.90.�� In the 400m, EMU had two men qualify for ODACs, highlighted by����(Winchester, Va./Millbrook) PRing in 52.07.����(Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) had a finish of 53.11.

��(Broadway, Va./Broadway) continued his road back in the 60m hurdles with a season best time of 8.79.

Then in the 4x400m relay, the Royals had a foursome cross in 3:30.16, which was just a tenth of a second behind a team from ODAC rival Washington and Lee.������(Lynchburg, Va./E.C. Glass), Bush, Denlinger and Faint combined for the No. 7 time in EMU history.

And a foursome also landed in No. 7 in the distance medley relay, as��(Churchville, Va./Fort Defiance),����(Nelson, Va./Nelson County),����(Richmond, Va./Huguenot) and����(Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) clocked at 11:08.35.

��(Harrisonburg, Va./Eastern Mennonite) kept in his ODAC-leading shape by clearing 1.92m (6-3.5ft) in the high jump.

Eastern Mennonite’s teams are back in action next weekend, participating at the DuCharme Invitational in Carlisle, Pa., on Saturday.

��(Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) had her best finish of the year, earning the runner-up medal.�� She crossed the 6k course in 23:45.1, following only Bridgewater’s Kaylee Kubisiak, who won her second Old Dominion Athletic Conference title in 23:35.6.

Freshman����(Dover, Ohio/Dover) came in third in her first go-around at the ODAC Championships, clocking a time of 24:10.8. ��She took a full 67 seconds off her race on the same course as the ODAC Preview.�� Both Chappell-Dick, who didn’t run at the ODAC Preview, and Lehman earned All-ODAC First Team honors with their finishes.

��(St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Odgen) landed on the All-ODAC Second Team as she crossed 13th with a time of 25:28.9.������(Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) and����(Harrisonburg, Va./Broadway) followed each other through the chute as they rounded out EMU’s top five.�� Eckman was 18th in 25:49.4 while Kreider was 19th in 26:03.0, beating a Roanoke runner by half a step.

Freshman����(Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula) was sixth for the Royals, taking 26th in 26:27.1, while����(Puyallup, Wash./Mountainview International) was 46th in 27:46.7.

The Royals charted 55 points as a team to finish second.�� BC won the title with 42 points, as the two friendly rivals dominated the race with 11 of the top 19 finishers.�� Washington and Lee was third with 83 points.

Coach Jason Lewkowicz said the ODAC race set up his runners for the upcoming regional meet.

“I’m really proud of the team today,” said Lewkowicz.�� “The conditions were tough but they responded to my challenge to embrace the opportunity to compete and show their toughness, which they did.�� The women stuck their nose into the race hoping to win and although they fell a little short, you can’t complain about their effort and strong runner-up finish.�� This effort gives us a lot of momentum as we prepare for regionals.”

ODAC Awards
Aside from the All-ODAC honorees, the women claimed two special awards from the league.

Kat Lehman��was named the ODAC Rookie of the Year, as she was the top D-III runner at three of her four races during the regular season.�� She was named ODAC Runner of the Week three times during the year as well.

Junior��Hannah Chappell-Dick��was voted the women’s cross country ODAC Scholar-Athlete, charting a 3.84 GPA as a biology and kinesiology double major.�� She has been named to the ODAC All-Academic Team and USTFCCCA All-Academic Team twice each, is a three-time All-ODAC First Team honoree, and went to nationals in both cross country and outdoor track (800m) as a sophomore.

EMU’s runners have an off weekend next week as they prepare for the South/Southeast Regional Championships.�� That meet is Nov. 15 in Rome, Ga.

EMU Women Perfect With Top Five Finishers

So this is what they are capable of.

Running with a full team on Saturday, the Eastern Mennonite women were perfect. Literally. The Royals charted the lowest possible team score with 15 points, and won the Shenandoah Valley Invitational over co-host Bridgewater College, who had 40.

EMU’s women were not at full strength in their only other meet so far this season, taking third at the ODAC Preview on Aug. 29.

Although assistant coach Breanna Newton actually won the individual title on Saturday, the Royals had the top five collegiate runners. Freshman����(Dover, Ohio/Dover) led the way, cruising in with a time of 19:27 on the 5k course. Running in her first race of 2014,����(Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton), an NCAA nationals participant last year, was next with a time of 20:03.

��(Harrisonburg, Va./Broadway) cruised in at 20:14 followed by��(Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) in 20:17.����(St. Joseph, Ill./St. Joseph-Odgen), who also missed the ODAC Preview, rounded out the scoring five in 20:31.

The dominating performance helped EMU easily beat Bridgewater, the defending ODAC champions, who are ranked No. 2 in the South/Southeast Region. The Eagles had a pack of five runners do their scoring, and they all finished 28-33 seconds behind Paden. The Royals had not been listed among the top 10 teams in the region so far this year, but should expect to appear on the list this week.

��(Gig Harbor, Wash./Peninsula) and����(Puyallup, Wash./Mountainview International) finished EMU’s top seven. Eldridge was 18th in 21:24 while Patterson was 21st in 21:27.

Men Top Bridgewater And Win Shenandoah Valley Invite

With the way they looked on Saturday, you wouldn’t have known that the EMU men hadn’t run a competitive race in three weeks. The Royals landed the top three finishers at the Shenandoah Valley Invitational in Elkton, Va., and beat co-host Bridgewater College, the No. 1 team in the South/Southeast Region.

Senior����(Millersville, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) headed the charge, as he earned the gold medal as the top finisher. Gehman crossed the four-mile course on Elk Run Trails in 21:03, a full 16 seconds ahead of his nearest competition.�� His nearest racer turned out to be a teammate in��(Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance), who took silver in 21:19.������(Sterling, Ill./Sterling) was right behind him, taking third in 21:24.

Bridgewater had the next six finishers, but EMU rounded out their scoring with��(Wichita, Kan./Wichita East) landing 10th in 22:03 and����(Bluffton, Ohio/Bluffton) in 12th at 22:06.

��(Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) was 14th in 22:17, with����(Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) taking 21st in 22:25.����(Perkasie, Pa./Christopher Dock) was just a few steps behind his teammate in 22nd at 22:28.

Eastern Mennonite totaled just 28 points with their top five runners, edging past the Eagles who had 30. After winning the South/Southeast Regional Meet last fall, BC has been ranked No. 1 in both rankings so far this year. The Royals charted at No. 8 this past week.