The 2025-26 athletics season is upon us, and so is great change for the Ferrum ahtletics programs, including both cross country and track and field.
Ferrum has not had a full women’s XC roster since 2022, and last year, both the men’s and women’s track and field teams were small but mighty.
Now, head track and field coach and cross country Andre Kidd looks forward to a growth in size for them both.
“Last year, we only had a roster of 24,” Kidd explains. “We were able to recruit a lot and bring in a lot of talent. We’re up to 62 athletes total, combining the men’s and women’s teams.”
With a full roster and a recruitment pool filled with new students, Kidd has high hopes for the direction in which the teams are headed.
“We are expecting a lot of good performances from these guys, especially with cross country,” Kidd says. “We’ve got a full women’s and men’s team now, and we’ve got a lot of young talent that’s come in. We are expecting to do great things. I think we are going to finish higher than we expected. The goal this year is to work on a solid foundation.”
This season, there will be more first-years than ever.
“We have a lot of freshmen coming in, and they are going to be our foundation, our base in for what we are trying to do with this program,” says Kidd.
Assistant track and field and cross country coach Bus Baker notes that a foundation of first-years is unique in a great way for the team.
“I think that the core group that we’ve got coming in, you’re not going to see a lot of programs, especially in the Conference Carolinas where they’re going to see as many scorers that are freshman as we are going to have,” exclaimed Baker. “I think on the women’s side, all five of our scorers at the championship meet are going to be freshman, and on the men’s side, four out of five, or even five out of five. “
Those first-year scorers could not be more excited, including first year Izzy Weigel.
Weigel’s distance-running career began in high school. She has found her experience at Ferrum to be great since her arrival on campus and plans for the season to be a remarkable one.
“I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when coming to Ferrum. I was one of the last recruits. Though if I did have expectations, Ferrum has exceeded them by a long shot,” Weigel says. “Being an athlete here in this environment, I can feel myself unlocking potential I never knew I had. I’m a runner, so of course I want to get faster, I want to push myself and set new PRs.”
Weigel also has high aspirations for the team.
“This cross country season, I want our women’s team to surprise people. We may be overlooked sometimes because we are a new team here at Ferrum, but I want to be so successful this season that people can’t not talk about the Ferrum women’s cross-country team,” asserts Weigel.
Junior Nadiyah Abdussalaam agrees.
“I am enjoying being an athlete and student at Ferrum. I genuinely love it here. I love the coaches. I love my team. I love the family atmosphere of the campus,” Abdussalaam states. “It feels like an honor. I am really excited for what this year has to come.”
The efforts of the team, both incoming athletes and returning, will support the future of the program, according to Baker.
“I think it’s really great because the better they perform, the stronger our recruitments will be next season, and we will keep building on year after year,” Baker reports.
