Eastern Mennonite University Women's Cross Country

Olinger has been impressive.  In 2010, the year before the duo came to Harrisonburg, the Royals had just three men and two women running cross country, not fielding a scoring team on either side.  The next year, the men sent a runner to the NCAA National Championships and by 2012 the women were regionally ranked as a team.  In 2013, the men were ranked, while in 2014, they had the individual champion at the South/Southeast Regional Meet and sent two runners to the national meet. Along with one female runner, EMU sent a combined three athletes to the cross country championships, which was also the first time in school history that Eastern Mennonite sent multiple runners to nationals. The cross country women also accomplished a rare fete this fall, turning in a perfect team score with the top five finishers at a meet.  The Royals also had both the male and female ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honorees this year. Britten was praised by his former head mentor. Britten has been a huge part of the development, growth, and success of this program and, while his contributions have been made largely out of the limelight, the team knows how important he is to what we've been doing, Lewkowicz said.  I think he is one of the best young coaches in the country, and now the rest of the world will get to see that as he gets the opportunity to lead this team into the future. The growth of EMUs track & field teams has been nearly as impressive over the past four years.  The men and women combined to have 13 athletes in 2010, before the new coaches arrived.  This year the Royals have 49 on the two teams and have also been in the top 10 in the regional rankings.  They sent two women to the national meet in both indoor and outdoor, with Hannah Chappell-Dick claiming All-American status at each meet, taking second in the indoor mile and third in the outdoot 1500m. Over the past four years, the men and women have been making a dominant presence in the EMU history books, breaking (and re-breaking) a total of 16 EMU records.  At the conference level, the teams have a combined 14 individual or relay ODAC champions during that time.  Last spring, Eastern Mennonite also sent their first track participant to nationals during Lewkowiczs tenure. I am blessed to have this opportunity here at EMU and to be a part of something special and bigger than myself and anyone on this team, Britten explained when he took over.  The core of this program does not change as we will continue to give God the glory and be a Christ-centered program.  We have a very strong foundation of athletes and we look to continue to build upon that going forward. Britten also ran for Coach Jason Lewkowicz when the two coincided for two years at UVA-Wise. He was also a three-sport athlete at Patrick Henry High School (golf, basketball and track & field) and earned All-State honors in track & field. In the fall of 2008, Britten assisted with the UVA-Wise cross country team and helped a female runner qualify for the national meet. He has coached at both Patrick Henry HS and Abingdon HS, helping multiple athletes earn All-State accolades. Britten was also an assistant boys' basketball coach at Abingdon. Britten was married in 2014 and lives with his wife Samantha in Harrisonburg. After four years as the lead assistant coach at EMU, Britten Olinger transitioned into the Head Cross Country and Track & Field Coach over the summer of 2015.  Britten assisted former coach Jason Lewkowicz during the programs' rise to national prominence and will maintain the recent momentum of the programs in his first collegiate head coaching position. EMU Director of Athletics Dave King said that the transition to Britten was an easy decision. After hearing about Jason's decision to leave, I knew that we had to find a way to keep the momentum going and make the transition as seamless as possible, explained King.  I am very pleased that we are able to move Britten into the head coaching role.  Having run for and coached with Jason, Britten is the best person to continue what Jason has started.  They have similar philosophies and recruiting strategies.  I'm confident that Britten and his staff will be able to use the foundation of Jason's tenure to continue to build top level conference and regional teams. The rebirth of Eastern Mennonites cross country and track & field programs under Jason Lewkowicz and Britten Olinger has been impressive.  In 2010, the year before the duo came to Harrisonburg, the Royals had just three men and two women running cross country, not fielding a scoring team on either side.  The next year, the men sent a runner to the NCAA National Championships and by 2012 the women were regionally ranked as a team.  In 2013, the men were ranked, while in 2014, they had the individual champion at the South/Southeast Regional Meet and sent two runners to the national meet. Along with one female runner, EMU sent a combined three athletes to the cross country championships, which was also the first time in school history that Eastern Mennonite sent multiple runners to nationals. The cross country women also accomplished a rare fete this fall, turning in a perfect team score with the top five finishers at a meet.  The Royals also had both the male and female ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year honorees this year. Britten was praised by his former head mentor. Britten has been a huge part of the development, growth, and success of this program and, while his contributions have been made largely out of the limelight, the team knows how important he is to what we've been doing, Lewkowicz said.  I think he is one of the best young coaches in the country, and now the rest of the world will get to see that as he gets the opportunity to lead this team into the future. The growth of EMUs track & field teams has been nearly as impressive over the past four years.  The men and women combined to have 13 athletes in 2010, before the new coaches arrived.  This year the Royals have 49 on the two teams and have also been in the top 10 in the regional rankings.  They sent two women to the national meet in both indoor and outdoor, with Hannah Chappell-Dick claiming All-American status at each meet, taking second in the indoor mile and third in the outdoot 1500m. Over the past four years, the men and women have been making a dominant presence in the EMU history books, breaking (and re-breaking) a total of 16 EMU records.  At the conference level, the teams have a combined 14 individual or relay ODAC champions during that time.  Last spring, Eastern Mennonite also sent their first track participant to nationals during Lewkowiczs tenure. I am blessed to have this opportunity here at EMU and to be a part of something special and bigger than myself and anyone on this team, Britten explained when he took over.  The core of this program does not change as we will continue to give God the glory and be a Christ-centered program.  We have a very strong foundation of athletes and we look to continue to build upon that going forward. Britten also ran for Coach Jason Lewkowicz when the two coincided for two years at UVA-Wise. He was also a three-sport athlete at Patrick Henry High School (golf, basketball and track & field) and earned All-State honors in track & field. In the fall of 2008, Britten assisted with the UVA-Wise cross country team and helped a female runner qualify for the national meet. He has coached at both Patrick Henry HS and Abingdon HS, helping multiple athletes earn All-State accolades. Britten was also an assistant boys' basketball coach at Abingdon. Britten was married in 2014 and lives with his wife Samantha in Harrisonburg.