Cross Country: UVA women finish 15th, men 22nd in national championship meets

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Jenny Schilling paced Virginia women’s squad to a 15th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships at Panorama Farms Saturday morning. Schilling completed the 6,000-meter course in 20:06.4 to garner All-America honors, which is awarded to the top-40 finishers.

She is Virginia’s first women’s cross country All-American since 2013, when Barbara Strehler finished 24th at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course (Terre Haute, Ind.). Schilling shaved more than six seconds off her previous time from this year’s pre-nationals race, which was also held at Panorama Farms

Behind Schilling was Margot Appleton (20.13.2, 51st), Anna Workman (20.42.1, 105th), Camryn Menninger (21:05.3, 158th), Gillian Bushee (21.05.8, 159th) and Caroline Timm (21:21.9, 186th).

In the men’s 10k race, the Cavaliers finished 22nd overall and were led by Will Anthony who crossed the finish line in 30:07.9.  Not far behind Anthony was Yasin Sado, who placed 73rd with a time of 30:18.8. Wes Porter (30:43.4, 118th), Nathan Mountain (31:17.2, 172nd), Jacob Hunter (31:45.6, 201st), Gary Martin (32:20.8, 219th) and Justin Watchel (33:02.7, 232nd) rounded out the scoring for the UVA men’s individual finishers.

NC State (123) won the women’s race by one point to edge Northern Arizona (124). Florida’s Parker Valby (18:55.2) captured the women’s title handily, finishing 20 seconds before the second-place finisher. On the men’s side, Oklahoma State (49) claimed the title by 21 points as the Lumberjacks (71) swept second-place finishes. Harvard’s Graham Blanks (28:37.7) won gold after moving passing New Mexico freshman Habtom Samuel (28:40.7) amid the final 1,000-meter split.

FROM DIRECTOR OF CROSS COUNTRY AND TRACK & FIELD VIN LANANNA

“I think that there were probably 800 or 900 people who came up to me personally to tell me how great the course was, and how great the experience was. Cross country, as I’ve said all along, is the ultimate distance race, we bring everybody together 800, 1500, 5k, 10k, and the course was great, all 200 of the volunteers, bus shuttles. Today demonstrated, to all who watched it, that it was a great event.”

2023 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships
Panorama Farms
Earlysville
Virginia Women’s Results (6k) – 15th place, 400 points

39. *Jenny Schilling, 20:06.4
40. Margot Appleton, 20:13.2
41. Anna Workman, 20:42.1
42. Camryn Menninger 21:05.3
43. Gillian Bushee, 21:05.8
44. Caroline Timm, 21:21.9
    Sophie Atkinson, DNF
    * – All-America recipient

Virginia Men’s Results (10k) – 22nd place, 512 points

61. Will Anthony, 30:07.9
62. Yasin Sado, 30:18.8
63. Wes Poter, 30:43.4
64. Nathan Mountain, 21:17.2
65. Jacob Hunter, 31:45.6
66. Gary Martin, 32:20.8
67. Justin Watchel, 33:02.7