All 11 conference teams run in the 51st and 27th annual races
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech men\'s and women\'s cross country teams will compete in its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 30. This year\'s conference championships is hosted by the University of Maryland.The women\'s race will start at 10 a.m. followed by the men\'s race at 11 a.m. on the University of Maryland Golf Course, which is across the street from Byrd Stadium.
\"We\'d like to have two All-ACC performers and be in the top-five as a team on both sides,\" states head coach Ben Thomas. \"The team has had great workouts this past month and I like how it is coming together. Jessica Morris, Jessica Fanning, Natalie Sherbak, and Jenn Dietz are ready to give their best performances. We will really need to have someone step up and run strong in our fifth position to be competitive as a team in the women\'s race.\"
He goes on to say, \"For the men, David Atkiss is running very well and could finish in the top-ten and be All-ACC. We are counting on Michael Lawson to help bridge the gap between David and our young pack of freshman who have been running well together in a tight pack all season.\"
\"We are looking forward to compete with all of the ACC teams. You always know the ACC is going to be very competitive in cross country, much like the BIG EAST was. We are used to running against and competing well against the best of the best. I am excited about our future in the ACC and seeing our program continue to improve and compete with the best,\" concludes Thomas.
N.C. State is hoping to win its fourth consecutive men\'s title and its 13th win overall while the North Carolina women are looking for a repeat of last year\'s win, which denied N.C. State from its 20th title.
ACC TEAMS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
Florida State is now the top ACC men\'s team ranked at the No. 11 spot in the Mondo National Poll that was released on Oct. 19 while N.C. State dropped to No. 16. Duke makes its first appearance in the pol ranked No. 26.
Duke is the top women\'s team ranked No. 5 in the FinishLynx National Poll. North Carolina\'s is No. 8, Wake Forest is No. 14 and N.C. State dropped to No. 20.
ACC PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK
Sept. 7th: Luke Beevor (Florida State) and Anne Bersagel (Wake Forest)
Sept. 14th: Andrew Lemoncello (Florida State) and Meghan Owen (North Carolina)
Sept. 21st: Itay Magidi (Clemson) and Shannon Rowbury (Duke)
Sept. 28th: Matt Clark (Clemson) and Selina Sekulic (Wake Forest)
Oct. 4th: Andrew Lemoncello (Florida State) and Shannon Rowbury (Duke)
Oct. 11th: Melanie Schultz (Miami)
Oct. 18th: Andrew Lemoncello (Florida State) and Carol Henry (North Carolina)
A LOOK BACK AT THE 2003 ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS
N.C. State won the men\'s team scoring with all five of its runners finishing in the top-ten for a total of 27 points. Wolfpack Andy Smith took individual top honors in the 8k race with a time of 24:13.1.
Florida State finished in second place with 66 points, Virginia was third with 83 points, Clemson took fourth with 130 points and Wake Forest had 139 points for fifth place. Georgia Tech (156), Maryland (161), North Carolina (183) and Duke (206) finished sixth through ninth, respectively.
North Carolina\'s women\'s squad won the team scoring with 40 points at the 2003 ACC Cross Country Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Tar Heels claimed three top-ten places. Shalane Flanagan (UNC) won the women\'s 6k race in 19:22.8.
N.C. State had 44 points for second place, Wake Forest took third with 62 points, Duke scored 120 points for forth place and Florida State was fifth with 135 points.
Virginia (142), Maryland (209), Georgia Tech (229) and Clemson (282) took sixth through ninth.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS
2004 is a milestone year for the Atlantic Coast Conference cross country championships. On Saturday, Oct. 30 in College Park, Md., 11 teams will celebrate the 51st anniversary of the men\'s championships and the 27th annual women\'s championships. Included in the 11 teams are two new members Miami and Virginia Tech. They will run in their first-ever ACC cross country championships. The Hurricanes and the Hokies will have to compete with the nine schools who have a strong history at the conference championships.
N.C. State leads the ACC with 12 men\'s and 20 women\'s titles. Rollie Geiger, in his 23rd year as the Wolfpack head coach, has won a total of 30 championships with 12 from his men\'s teams and 20 from the women\'s squads. In 1991, he was the first and only ACC coach to sweep the men\'s and women\'s titles in the same year. Since then he has done it seven more times.
The Wolfpack men have made ACC history as having the widest victory margin with 54 points in 1999. N.C. State won with 16 points over Duke\'s second place finish of 70 points. Their 16 points in 1999 is the lowest team total in conference history. Nine Wolfpack men have won individual titles with the last two in 2002 and 2003.
Maryland has won the men\'s conference title 11 times with their last coming in 1976 and have had three individual champions. The Terps hold the conference record for most consecutive titles with six (1964-1969).
North Carolina leads the ACC with 14 individual winners in the men\'s race. The Tar Heels last conference winner was John Cline in 1997. UNC is third with nine team championships.
Clemson and Duke are tied with seven men\'s championships each. Duke edges Clemson in the individual champion category with 11. Clemson has had ten.
Wake Forest has had four team and two individual men\'s titles in the 50 year history while Virginia claims only one men\'s championship (1984) and no individual winners.
N.C. State\'s women\'s team has dominated the conference championships with 20 team and nine individual championships won. The Wolfpack women hold the conference record for the most consecutive titles with seven (1987-1993). They also claim the ACC\'s widest and smallest victory margin.
North Carolina is second in the conference with three women\'s team titles and seven women champions. Tar Heel Shalane Flanagan won the 2000-2003 races.
Virginia has had two women\'s titles and four race winners in their 26 years. The Cavaliers\' win in 1982 with 20 points is the conference record for the lowest team total.
The Clemson women have had only one team championship (1986) and two individual champions.
Wake Forest has not won a team championship but has had three women winners. Janell Kraus won two of the three in 1997 and 1998.
Maryland also has not won a women\'s team title but has claimed one race winner back in 1998.
Since joining the ACC in 1991, Florida State has not won any team or individual titles in the men\'s and women\'s races. The Seminole men have finished in second place last year with 66 points after taking fifth place in 2002. Their women\'s team has not finished above fifth place in their 13 years running in the conference championships.
VIRGINIA TECH\'S CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The Hokie men competed in the Southern Conference cross country championships with Davidson, Furman, Georgia Tech, Richmond, The Citadel, Tulane, University of the South, Virginia, Virginia Military Institute, Washington & Lee and William & Mary from 1955 to 1977. Tech did not win any team titles but Hokie Louis Castagnola did win two individual championships in 1959 and 1960. There were four Hokies named to the all-conference teams during the eight year stint.
From the time of 1978 to 1994, Tech\'s men\'s squad competed in the Metro Conference with Cincinnati, Florida State, Louisville, Memphis State, St. Louis and Tulane. They claimed 10 conference championship titles and had five individual winners. Out of the 10 titles, seven of them were in consecutive years (1983-1989). Of the five race winners, three separate Hokies won in three consecutive years (1985-1987).
The Hokie women started to compete in the Metro Conference in 1985 till 1994. They won the 1985, 1986 and 1987 conference championships. Three women finished first in the 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1991 races and 14 women were named to all-conference teams.
Tech entered the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1995 and competed in its championships with Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph\'s, Temple and Xavier until 1999. The men won two conference titles (1996 and 1997) and two Hokies took top honors in the 1997 and 1999 races. Eleven Hokies were named to the all-conference teams during the five year A-10 era.
Tech\'s women\'s squad did not win any A-10 Championships or have any individual winners. They did have six women named to all-conference teams during their five year stint.
During the Hokies time in the BIG EAST running against Boston College, Connecticut, Georgetown, Miami, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Providence College, Rutgers, St. John\'s, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova and West Virginia, the men did not place higher than seventh (2001 and 2002). The women finished as high as sixth place in the 2001 and 2003 championships. Marlies Overbeeke is the lone Hokie to be named to an All-BIG EAST team in 2003. Also in 2003, she recorded Tech\'s only top-ten finish at the championships.
HOKIE 2004 HIGHLIGHTS
Festival in the Fields hosted by Virginia Tech, Sept. 4
Tech won the men\'s and women\'s team scoring and had six top-ten finishers at the first meet of the season. The Hokies defeated Division I harriers Liberty University and Wayne State University.
Freshman Jessica Fanning was the top collegiate finisher and second overall in the women\'s 4k race with a time of 14:52.41. Senior Jessica Morris finished right behind Fanning for third place.
In the men\'s six kilometer race, senior David Atkiss was the first Hokie to cross the finish line in 19:44.62, for a fourth place showing. This was Atkiss\' first meet back after sitting out the 2003 season due to an injury.
Lou Onesty Invitational hosted by the University of Virginia, Sept. 18
Fanning then won the women\'s race and led the Tech\'s women team to a second place finish at the Lou Onesty Invitational. Fanning was honored as Virginia Tech\'s Athlete of the Week for her performance. Two other Hokie women had top-ten finishes in the meet and the men\'s team grabbed fourth place. This was the Hokies first meeting with an ACC cross country team in the inaugural season.
Bobcat Invitational hosted by Lees-McRae University, Oct. 2
Senior Jessica Morris captured her first collegiate meet win with a time of 18:14 (6.4k) and led the Hokie women to their second victory of the season. All seven Hokie women finished in the top ten.
Seniors Michael Lawson and David Atkiss led Tech\'s men\'s squad in the 6.4k race with a 2-3 finish. Lawson had a time of 18:14 for a second place showing while Atkiss finished one second behind Lawson for third place. The Hokies defeated Lees-McRae College, the host of school of the invite, Appalachian State and Warren Wilson College.
Virginia Tech Invitational hosted by Tech, Oct. 9
Tech did not run a full team in the men\'s and women\'s races so they were not included into the team scoring in the Virginia Tech Invitational.
Freshman Jessica Erickson took fifth place in the women\'s 4.7k race with 18:37.39 and sophomore Kelly Dick finished in 8th place. The winner of the women\'s race is former Hokie runner, Marlies Overbeeke. She clocked a time of 16:65.64 and was about a minute faster than the runner-up, Cynthia Campbell.
Freshman Matt McGroarty was the first Hokie to cross the finish line in the men\'s 7.8k race. He finished in 18th place with a time of 26:11.63. Sophomores Brian Markley and Chris Scott were 20th and 25th.
Chile Pepper Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas, Oct. 16
Virginia Tech women\'s cross country team claimed sixth place while the Hokie men finished tenth in the 31 team field at the Chile Pepper Invitational.
Fanning was the first Hokie to cross the finish line in the six kilometer women\'s race in eighth place out of the 245 runner field with a time of 21:04.7 and had the only Tech top-ten finish of the day.
Atkiss was the top Tech finisher in the men\'s 10 kilometer race. He was 27th in the 254 runner field with a time of 30:56.3. The Hokies beat Georgia Tech, the only other Atlantic Coast Conference cross country team entered in the race. The Yellow Jacket women\'s team finished in 13th place and their men were 14th.