EARLYSVILLE, Va. (theACC.com) – The NC State women own yet another Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country title, and the Wake Forest men are league champions for the first time since 1994.
A sizeable crowd at Panorama Farms and a live ACC Network television audience looked on Friday morning as the Wolfpack women claimed their seventh consecutive ACC Cross Country title and their eighth overall under current head coach Laurie Henes. NC State’s 28 total team championships are the most by an ACC women’s program in any sport.
This year’s trophy didn’t come easy for the defending NCAA champion Wolfpack, which edged second-place Notre Dame by a mere four points in the team scoring (34-38) behind a 1-2 finish by Katelyn Tuohy and Kelsey Chmiel. Sam Bush’s fifth-place finish also loomed crucial for NC State, as both the Wolfpack and Notre Dame placed four runners among the top 10 and five among the top 16.
The Wake Forest men, under the direction of head coach John Hayes, claimed the fifth ACC men’s title in program history and the first in nearly three decades. The Demon Deacons placed four runners among the top eight to finish 42 points ahead second-place Syracuse.
Tuohy took the women’s gold medal in a 6K course-record time of 19:08.9, and each of the other top-six finishers bettered the previous course record of 19:48.9. Chmiel – last year’s champion – took the silver medal at 19:20. Notre Dame’s Olivia Markezich was third at 19:29.7, followed by Duke’s Amina Maatoug at 19:41.8 and NC State’s Bush at 19:45.7.
The men’s race also saw the 8K course record fall as Notre Dame’s Carter Solomon used a strong push past North Carolina’s Parker Wolfe to take the gold medal with a time of 22:55.9. Wolfe checked in at 22:56.1, and Wake Forest’s Aaron Las Heras took the bronze medal at 23:09.2.
Las Heras was followed by teammates Luke Tewalt (fourth place at 23:09.4), Thomas Vanoppen (fifth at 23:12.4) and Zach Facioni (eighth at 23:15.4) as the Demon Deacons pulled away from the field.
Team scoring was as follows:
MEN
1. Wake Forest – 44
2. Syracuse – 86
3. North Carolina – 87
4. Notre Dame – 92
5. NC State – 118
6. Virginia – 125
7. Duke -181
8. Virginia Tech -251
9. Florida State – 255
10. Pitt – 292
11. Georgia Tech – 319
12. Louisville – 324
13. Clemson – 359
14. Boston…
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