As consecutive conference champions, the past two seasons were the most successful in the 16-year history of the Marymount University Saints women’s cross-country team.
Marymount comfortably won back-to-back Atlantic East Conference crowns in 2025 and 2024 by margins of 30 and 21 points, respectively. The league titles were the first in history for the Division III program.
Prior to that, the Saints’ best finishes in conference championship meets had been runner-ups in both 2022 and 2023. As a result of the top conference finishes, Marymount also has competed in the NCAA South Regional meets the last few years, with a highest finish of 14th.
Success took a while to materialize. The team had just six runners during its inaugural season in 2010, just four the next fall. Over the years, that number has grown to eight or nine — with hopes to expand it further.
During the early years of the team’s existence, when Marymount participated in the old Capital Athletic Conference, the Saints often finished near the back of the field. Marymount joined the Atlantic East Conference in the 2018-19 school year.
Kameron Blanding took over as Marymount’s head coach in time for the 2024 season, leading the Saints to those consecutive conference crowns. He’s also the head men’s cross-country coach at Marymount, with help from his staff of assistants, including associate head coach Max McNeill.
“Obviously we want to be the conference winner again this season and make it three titles in a row,” McNeill told RunWashington. “We have a good team returning.”
McNeill has been with the program for four years. He said it has taken time to develop the distance runners.
“Individually with the runners, we focus on ways to improve each in personalized manners,” McNeill said. “We work on that structure to make sure it fits with what we want to do here as a team. It’s good to see the hard work is paying off.”
McNeill also is an assistant coach for Arlington’s Washington-Liberty High School cross-country and track-and-field teams.
The Marymount squad will consist of about eight runners this season, a number McNeill said the team is working to double in size.
The Saints are scheduled to begin their fall campaign at the season-opening 10-team Eagle Cross Country Challenge hosted by and at Bridgewater College on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Marymount last year did not participate in that event, which included multiple rival Division III Virginia opponents.
The Eagle Challenge will be one of six regular-season meets, with the last being the Saturday, Oct. 17 Border Battle in Glassboro event in New Jersey.
Then the postseason begins, with Marymount defending its conference title Saturday, Oct. 31. Next would be the regionals on the Panorama Farms course near Charlottesville.
Brier Amerlinck, Abby Hughes and Gabriela Titone are top runners who return this season. Amerlinck finished second individually in last fall’s conference championship meet. Hughes placed third and Titone seventh.
Elizabeth DellaCorte, Kayla Turner and Maria Pullen were other top Marymount runners who ran in the 2025 conference championship meet and are returning. There also will be a couple of young newcomers.
Amerlinck, Hughes and Titone were chosen first-team all-conference last season. Amerlinck was twice chosen as conference Runner of the Week last season and as the conference Rookie of the Year in 2024.
In high school, Amerlinck, Hughes and DellaCorte ran in state-championship meets.
