Lamb, Claire

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Granville native Claire Lamb quietly came to Otterbein not really knowing what to expect from her college experience, and ultimately graduated four years later as arguably the most decorated female athlete in school history.

 

She took the cross country course by storm from the opening week and ultimately became a 4x All-Ohio champion, 4x national qualifier, 3x Ohio Athletic Conference individual champion and 2x All-American. Lamb spearheaded four-straight OAC team championships, a pair of NCAA appearances for the program and finished top-five in 24 of 28 career races.

 

Lamb finished 43rd at NCAA's as a freshman and 37th the following year before breaking through to All-American status, crossing the line in 22nd place as a junior. She followed that up with a near-perfect senior season, winning her first six races and setting a new Great Lakes Regional course record (20:58) to become the first Cardinal female to break the 21:00 barrier. Lamb then finished national runner-up at the NCAA's, just three seconds shy of a national title.

 

Her efforts from the fall always carried over onto the track for indoor/outdoor season, where she was a combined 9x OAC champion, 9x All-Ohio champion, 7x national qualifier, 3x All-American as the anchor of Otterbein's distance-medley relay, and holder of seven school records. In her final relay leg of the DMR as a senior, Lamb moved six spots to help the DMR secure its highest national result ever (fourth place) for a third-straight podium finish.

 

Lamb, who maintained a 3.80 GPA majoring in psychology, was also a second team CoSIDA Academic All-American as a senior, a 3x Academic All-OAC selection and made other regional/national lists through the USTFCCCA. She conlcuded her career by receiving the OAC Clyde Lamb Award, presented to the top male and female senior student-athlete at each of the 10 league institutions.