The Olympics isn’t the only avenue for Clemson athletes to compete on Team USA.
The Clemson trail running club president, Lily Addicott, has orienteered on behalf of the United States for the last three summers.
Addicott took on her role as the president to round off an impressive college career. She ran cross-country for six years before starting at Clemson, leading her to begin her college career at Erskine College in Due West, South Carolina, as a member of the women’s cross-country team.
After transferring to Clemson in the spring of 2022, she sought out the trail running club the following semester. Following her brief stint as a Division II college athlete, Addicott became a highly decorated orienteer during her time as a Tiger.
Orienteering is a sport where athletes use a topographical map and a compass to navigate their way through the woods chronologically — runners who have hit all the control points in the shortest time win.
“I got into it through high school ROTC,” Addicott told The Tiger in an interview. “I got recruited out of the eighth grade. My friends talked me into it, and then I went and saw some success, and I won Navy nationals my freshman year. After that, I thought I might be good at it, but once I got into college, I had to quit because I didn’t have time while at Erskine. Once I got back to Clemson, it was something I could keep pursuing.”
During her first semester at Clemson, she attended the Junior National Tournament for orienteering in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she swept her competition in every race over a three-day weekend. Her performance in the tournament allowed her to join Team USA and compete in the 2022 Junior World Championships in Portugal.
Since then, Addicott has consistently competed on the country’s behalf. Last year, she competed in Romania during the summer, and this past summer, she attended the Sprint World Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the World University Championships in Bansko, Bulgaria.
Ironically, it was her experience as a Team USA member that gave her the confidence to become the trail running club president. She’s even recruited some of her friends from the club to orienteer with her on the weekends.
“I definitely feel more confident when I’m out in the woods,” Addicott said. “The biggest connection between orienteering and trail running is that it’s so easy to lead people, and I feel so much more confident doing that.”
Addicott described joining the trail running club as, at the risk of sounding cliche, the highlight of her time at Clemson.
“I’ve made the best friendships through the club,” she said. “If I hadn’t joined, I would have never met so many cool people. And it’s been the highlight of my college career. There’s always something to look forward to.
“I’m super grateful that I took the risk and showed up my sophomore year randomly to this new club.”
She believes one of the best parts of the club is its accessibility. Not only does the club cater to runners of all skill levels, but it also hosts runs in Clemson’s very own experimental forest, which spans 17,000 acres with over 200 miles of trails.
Starting in 2018, the trail running club also hosts an annual marathon in the experimental forest during the spring semester. Last April, the volunteer-based event had 213 runners participate in the marathon, half marathon and 10K races.
Anyone interested in joining the club is encouraged to follow its Instagram page, @clemson.ef.trailrunners, and join the club’s GroupMe. The club meets on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. and Fridays at 3 p.m.
