One race into her collegiate career, Hannah Chappell-Dick of Bluffton has a lot to be happy about.
She won her first contest at Friday's Eastern Mennonite University Royals Invitational. On Tuesday, the freshman was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week.
Friday's meet, which was also the ODAC Preview Meet, featured a total of 67 women from eight different ODAC schools. Chappell-Dick was passed by Washington and Lee's Lauren Schultz, last year's ODAC Championship runner-up, with about 200m left on the course. She summoned one last bit of energy, however, and re-took first place with about 30 meters remaining and won by two seconds. Her time of 24:53 not only won the ODAC Preview, it was also the top time ever by an EMU woman on the 6k Peak View Course.
This is the first Athlete of the Week honor for an EMU cross country woman in several.
To go along with Chappell-Dick, Eastern Mennonite placed all five scorers in the top 16 runners and finished second at the meet, behind Washington and Lee. The Lady Royals are back in action this weekend, running at the Lebanon Valley College Invite this Saturday in Annville, Pa.
