GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – The defending NCAA champion NC State women earned the preseason No. 1 ranking in the USTFCCCA Division I Cross Country Coaches poll released on Wednesday. No. 6 Notre Dame also ranked among the top 10, and North Carolina checked in at No. 14.
The ACC led all conferences with four teams among the men’s top 25. No. 9 Wake Forest led the way, followed by No. 14 Notre Dame, No. 16 North Carolina and No. 21 Syracuse.
Defending ACC champion and 2021 ACC Women’s Runner of the year Kelsey Chmiel leads a strong returning cast for the Wolfpack and reigning USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year Laurie Henes. Other key returnees include ACC silver medalist Katelyn Tuohy and two other All-ACC performers in Sam Bush and Heather Holt.
Chmiel, Touhy and Bush were among the program-record five NC State runners that earned All-America honors at last year’s NCAA Championship. The Wolfpack, ranked No. 1 in preseason for the first time in program history, also added Tennessee transfer Sydney Seymour during the offseason.
Other top ACC women’s returnees include Notre Dame 2021 All-Americans Maddy Denner and Olivia Markezich, and 2021 ACC Women’s Freshman of the Year Brynn Brown of North Carolina.
The Wake Forest men took the team title at the NCAA Southeast Region Championships, marking the best regional finish for the program since 1993. The Demon Deacons punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships for the second time since 2001. This year’s No. 9 preseason ranking is the best in program history for the Demon Deacons and marks the first time they have ever been among the preseason top 10.
This year, the Demon Deacons are led by two-time All-American Zach Facioni and last season’s regional runner-up Aaron Las Heras. Wake Forest also returns All-Region honorees Luke Tewalt, Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos and Thomas Vanoppen.
Despite losing several top runners to graduation and the transfer portal, the ACC men again hope to be part of the national conversation after placing five teams among the top 20 at last year’s NCAA finals. Key returnees include ACC Freshman of the Year Parker Wolfe of North Carolina, who earned All-American honors at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Notre Dame enters the season as the two-time defending ACC champion and has posted three consecutive NCAA top-10…
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