The Sweet Briar College athletics department is excited to announce the addition of two varsity sports that will begin competition during the 2016 fall semester. Cross-country and golf will be added to the existing slate of sports, bringing the total to eight NCAA varsity teams at Sweet Briar.

“Cross-country has been a club sport at Sweet Briar College for years and visitors often tell us that we have ‘the perfect campus’ for a cross-country program,” said director of athletics Teresa Boylan. “We believe this to be true, and we look forward to hosting many teams in the future, as well as attracting dedicated cross-country student-athletes to Sweet Briar College.”
The home of Sweet Briar golf will be Poplar Grove Golf Course. Poplar Grove is located within two miles of campus and is golf legend Sam Snead’s final course design.
“Mr. Frank Murphy, CEO of Poplar Grove, has been extremely supportive of this addition to our athletics program,” Boylan said. “Poplar Grove’s director of golf and head golf professional Tracy Newman will be the home-course advisor to the SBC golf program as the program gets going this upcoming fall.”
Sweet Briar competes in NCAA Division III and as part of the 14-member Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). Cross-country is a fall sport, and Sweet Briar will become the 11th women’s team vying for the ODAC Championship in the fall of 2016. The seventh women’s program in the ODAC, Vixen golf will play a fall schedule before beginning the traditional season in spring 2017.
“Athletics at Sweet Briar is strong, with a spirit like no other program. I believe this year is a testament to the resilience of our amazing Sweet Briar women, every single one of them. Offering cross-country and golf gives us two more teams to fill with more extraordinary scholar-athletes,” Boylan said.
The search for head coaches is underway for both programs and updates will be announced soon.