The Owls are excited to welcome 11 new runners to the men's and women's cross-country squads this year. The freshmen on the men's side include Hullibutton Chinyama (Harare, Zimbabwe), Evan Aronson (West Springfield, MA), and Zack Schaumburg (Las Vegas, NV). Current Warren Wilson students Sam Kobylarz and Will Cox will also join the men's squad this year, adding more depth to the team with five returners. Brand new Owls Rah Juhlin (Saxapahaw, NC), Natacia Lankist (Ellsworth, ME), Kaitlin Christian (Northport, AL), Aila Givins (Boone, NC), Marlise Pedisich (Asheville, NC), and Shae Jones (Hendersonville, NC) will join the six returning runners on the women's team. Arrival on campus is just under four weeks away.

The team will kick off the competition season at Bob Jones University. The 6k/4k distances (slightly shorter than championship distances) will allow the Owls to test their fitness early on. Next, they'll have a chance to run the standard 8k/6k distances at the Converse Kick-Off in Spartanburg, SC. All in all, the team will race in 5 regular season meets (also Maryville, TN, and two meets in Charlotte, NC) before traveling to Santa Cruz, CA to compete in the Coast to Coast Conference Championships.

"Warren Wilson is a beautiful place to run! The trails are simply unmatched. I'm excited to help build upon the long-standing distance running tradition here and help our student-athletes discover how running on this team can add to their college experience! With a good amount of dedicated returning runners and a motivated incoming class, I have high hopes for my first year as the head coach!" – Head Coach Chris Ramirez

Come and support the Owls as they race first on the evening of 9/1 under the lights at Bob Jones University!