COLUMBUS, Ohio –  Capital University cross country will embark on the 2021 season with a new direction and sense of building. Under first-year head coach BT Pham, the program will be aiming for success amongst a tight contingent of athletes, while looking to build the roster in numbers and strength for the future.

Top Returners
Senior Heather Fryman and junior Eva Bernhardt return on the women's side for this coming year. After forgoing the 2020 season due to the pandemic, both will be eager to get back on the course for the 2021 campaign. From 2019, Fryman competed in all seven meets and ran a best 6K time of 26:57.5 at the NCAA Regional Meet. Bernhardt also competed in all seven races, running the team's fastest 6K time of the year at the NCAA Regional Meet in 24:02.8. 

For the men, Zach Brown will return to the program after competing in 2019. His best time of 26:23.5 also came at the NCAA Regional Meet on the men's 8K course. 

New Look Program
For the women, both Anya Vanasdale and Grace Lockard will be competing for the first time in cross country. Both are returning sophomores who have competed for Capital before, but the 2021 season will mark their first endeavors on the longer course. Vanasdale has competed in track and field, while Lockard spent the spring on the softball team. 

First time competitors for the team will be sophomores Donovan Slattery and Sam Siedel. Slattery has experience on the track at Capital, but has yet to compete in cross country due to the cancellation of the 2020 season. Siedel will join the Capital running program for the first time. 

Both the men's and women's side will be under new direction in 2021 as BT Pham has taken the helm as the Head Cross Country & Track and Field Coach. Pham, who has extensive experience as an assistant and head coach building programs will look to re-energize the program to new heights moving forward. 

Pham's assistant coach, Mac Milligan, is joining Capital after most recently serving as his assistant at William Peace University. Much like Pham, Milligan excels at developing programs and athletes to take strides forward. Milligan will oversee the cross country runners and the distance events in track and field this year. 

Season Schedule
Both squads will begin their season on September 4th at the Polar Bear Invitational in Ada, Ohio. Following that, the athletes will compete on consecutive weekends at the All-Ohio Championships and the Findlay Invitational on September 17th and 24th, respectively. 

Heading into October, the teams will prepare for the OAC Championships and NCAA Regionals with a run at the Oberlin Inter-Regional Rumble on October 16th. 

The season will wrap up with the OAC meet on October 30th in Marietta, and the NCAA races beginning at Regionals on November 13th in Franklin, Indiana.