Panthers Complete ACC Championships, Carey-Tharp Named to All-ACC Team

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Pitt men’s and women’s cross country teams opened up championship season action Friday morning at the ACC Cross Country Championships hosted by Florida State at Apalachee Regional Park. Seniors Luke Henseler and Sadie Carey-Tharp were Pitt’s highest finishers of the day, with Carey-Tharp earning All-ACC honors.

The Pitt men posted a 9^th place finish, a one spot improvement from the previous season, in the field of fifteen teams with a team score of 277 points. North Carolina secured the team title with 49 points, followed by Syracuse with team score of 65.

On the women’s side, the Panthers notched a 12^th place finish, also a one spot improvement from last season. They posted a team total of 330 while NC State continued their dominance with their eighth straight ACC title and team score of 37.

“Both men’s and women’s teams are progressing really well this year,” said first year head coach Griff Graves. “It is always hard to tell kids who want to be great yesterday that progress is rarely linear in this sport. But that is what you want, runners that have a desire to be better! Today the men had a real nice day and the women had a tough one. Both teams have shown that they are very good at different points in the season.”

MEN’S 8K RECAP

Senior Luke Henseler had a strong performance at the conference meet once again as he crossed the finish line in 27^th place overall. The Coventry, RI native posted a time of 23:56.8. Junior teammates Peyton Geehrer and Quintin Gatons had excellent outings as both posted new 8k personal bests. Geehrer nabbed 50^th place with a time of 24:14.2. Gatons finished the race in 24:20.2, collecting 57^th place.

Finn Walsh, Luke Miller, and Sam Otis followed closely together in 84^th, 85^th, and 88^th places. Walsh and Miller posted times within .6 seconds of each other, 24:47.0 and 24:47.6, respectively. Otis finished strong down the backstretch with a time of 24:50.5.

Sophomore Luke Simpson was the final scorer for Pitt, notching 111^th place with a time of 25:35.0 in his first conference championship meet.

WOMEN’S 6K RECAP

Senior Sadie Carey-Tharp had the best performance of her notable career on Friday as she received All-ACC honors for her 17^th place finish. She crossed the finish line…