Tech women finish 10th; Hokie men take 14th at NCAA Regionals

GREENVILLE, N.C. - Jessica Fanning led the Virginia Tech women's cross country team to a 10th place finish and earned all-region honors for her top-25 performance in the NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championships hosted by East Carolina University today at Lake Kristi. The Hokie men tied for 14th place out of 29 teams, which is one place higher than they finished last year.

Fanning (Fr., Charlottesville, Va.), an all-ACC and now all-region runner, came in first for the Hokies in 14th place out of the 180 runner-field in the women's race with a six kilometer time of 20:51.3.

Natalie Sherbak (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va) was Tech's second finisher for the second time this season with a time of 21:24.2 for 37th place.

Jessica Morris (Sr., Coatesville, Pa.) ended her Hokie cross country career as Tech's third finisher in her fourth and final regional championships. She took 48th place with a time of 21:44.0.

The Duke women, ranked No. 5 by the FinishLynx national poll and the 2004 ACC winner, won the southeast region with 71 points. No. 10 N.C. State came in second with 75 points. Both of their women's teams earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships hosted by Indiana State on Monday, November 22 in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Hokies were 10th with 287 points and beat 15 Division I teams including Clemson from the ACC.

David Atkiss (Sr., Hatfield, Pa.) was Tech's top finisher on the men's side for the fourth time this season. He had a 10 kilometer time of 31:44.4 for 44th place out of the 200 person-field. This was Atkiss' third regional championships and had his best finish in 2003 (34th).

Michael Lawson (Sr., Foster, R.I) closed his Hokie cross country career with a 73rd place finish for Tech. Lawson, an all-region runner in 2003, was Tech's top finisher at regionals last year in 21st place. He was 80th in 2002 and the 121st finisher in 2002.

Billy Berlin (Fr., Midlothian, Va.) and Andrew Montgomery (Fr., Fall Church, Va.) took 82nd and 85th place in their first regional meet.

N.C. State, ranked No. 11 by the MONDO national poll, won with 81 points. William & Mary, 2004 Colonial Athletic Conference Champions, claimed second place with 99 points. Both of them will represent the southeast region in the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 22.

Virginia Tech tied with North Carolina for 14th place with 386 points.

This concludes the 2004 cross country season for the Hokies. Tech will begin the 2005 indoor track & field season on Friday, December 3 at the Clemson Invitational.