NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt cross country will open its season in Nashville at the Belmont Opener at Percy Warner Park on Friday.
Student-athletes representing Austin Peay, Bellarime, Belmont, Dalton State, Lipscomb, Murray State, Presbyterian, Roane State, Southern Illinois, Trevecca, West Georgia and Western Kentucky will join Vanderbilt’s slate of runners at the event.
One year ago, the Commodore women won this event and the men’s team finished second to start off the 2022 cross country season.
Five of the six Vanderbilt’s women’s cross country runners who finished in the top 10 at the 2022 meet have returned to Nashville for the 2023 season. Junior Ella Lambert was the runner-up with a time of 18:07.59. Caroline Eck placed sixth with a time of 18:34.86, followed by Julia Rosenberg, Cameron Fawcett and Jenna Holland who finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 5-kilometer race.
On the men’s side, four returning Commodores placed in the top 15 at the 2022 Belmont Opener. Philip Metcalf finished ninth overall with a time of 15:49.37. Zach Hodges, David Song and Brody Haar crossed the finish line one after the other, placing 11th, 12th, and 13th, respectively.
The 2023 season will mark Althea Thomas and Michael Porter’s third with Vanderbilt, Thomas as the director of cross country and track and field and Porter as an assistant coach. In the offseason, the Commodores hired Mallory Mulzer as an assistant coach. The Belmont Opener will be her first meet coaching for Vandy.
The women’s race is scheduled to begin at 9:15 a.m., and the men are set to start at 10 a.m. Friday. Live results are available online.
