North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Men Take Fifth Consecutive ACC Title
11/1/1999 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Senior All-American Chan Pons was the individual champion, blazing the 8K course in a time of 24:19.4. Senior Corby Pons placed second in 24:30.7, senior Abdul Alzindani was third (24:44.3), junior All-American Chris Dugan placed fourth (24:44.6), and senior Aaron Saft took sixth (25:08.0). Freshman Dean Bowker finished eighth (25:10.0) and junior Mike Fitzula was tenth (25:13.8) to round out the scoring for the Wolfpack. These seven runners received All-ACC honors, the most any team has placed on the all-conference squad since NC State with six in 1997. Freshman Brad Einboden also ran well for NC State, finishing 13th in a time of 25:25.0. NC State ran without two-time senior All-American Brendan Rodgers, who missed the meet because of an irritated SI joint.
In the team standings, NC State bested second-place Duke (70 points) by an ACC-record 54 points. The previous record was 49 set by NC State three times. Wake Forest (99 points) was third, followed by Virginia (106), Clemson (126), Georgia Tech (162), North Carolina (179), Florida State (218), and Maryland (249).
On the womens side, NC State took second behind a stirring performance from junior All-American Christy Nichols, who won in a time of 17:11.8. Nichols has not competed in cross country the past two seasons because of injuries. NC State had two other All-ACC honorees, sophomore Katie Sabino (8th, 17:54.7) and junior Amy Beykirch (9th, 17:58.0). Sophomores Beth Fonner (17th, 18:17.4) and Molly Purser (21st, 18:25.7) ran well Saturday, followed by junior Lindsey Rogers (31st, 18:57.8) and sophomore Beth Kraft (32nd, 18:57.9) to complete NC States scoring. Junior Erin Musson also posted a 40th-place finish (19:11.6) for the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack was without the services of 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year Jennifer Modliszewski, who was out with a stress fracture.
In team scores, North Carolina was first with 44 points, NC State second (56 points), then Virginia (77), Wake Forest (96), Duke (104), Clemson (163), Georgia Tech (167), Florida State (214), and Maryland (259).
NC State will next compete at the District III Championships in Greenville, S.C. on Saturday, November 13 for the right to advance to the NCAA Championships in Bloomington, IN on Monday, November 22.
