North Carolina State University Athletics
Mens Cross Country Takes 2nd In ACC, Women 10th
11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Two NC State runners were within four second of the lead and four earned All-ACC honors, but the Wolfpack fell short of its annual goal of winning the conference championship Saturday. The Wolfpack finished second to Virginia at the 2008 ACC Cross Country Championships, held at the Finley Golf Course.
The Cavaliers won the men’s championship with a team score of 40 points. Ryan Foster won the individual title for UVa, running the 8k course in a time of 24:27.1. The Wolfpack was paced by sixth-year senior Bobby Mack and redshirt-junior John Martinez, who finished fourth and fifth, resectively. Mack ran the course in a time of 24:30.8, one-tenth of a second ahead of Martinez. Senior Gavin Coombs was 12th at 24:47.0, to earn All-ACC honors for the fourth time in his career. True freshman Ryan Hill was 13th at 24:47.2 and was ACC Freshman of the Year.
“I take my hat off to the University of Virginia,” Wolfpack coach Rollie Geiger said. “They won the race. They beat us. They didn’t back into it. They ran a really strong race and ran really well as a group. We weren’t that far behind them, but our goal is not to finish second in this race. I was happy that we had four guys make All-ACC, and I’m especially happy for Ryan Hill making rookie of the year. Still, winning the ACC is one of our goals every year and we didn’t accomplish that goal, so that’s disappointing.”
Mack battled Foster for the lead for much of the race, but Foster pulled away in the race’s final push. For Mack, who earned All-America honors as a true sophomore in 2004, the all-conference finish continued his remarkable comeback. Mack has battled injuries ever since his All-America season and appeared to exhaust his eligibility after the 2007 season. The university appealed to the NCAA to grant Mack an additional year of eligibility, however, and that was granted in September. His first race back with the Wolfpack was two weeks ago at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, and he responded with a top 30 finish.
“I was really hoping that Bobby Mack could win this race today after all he had to go through just to get to this point,” Geiger said. “But he ran a heck of a race, and we wouldn’t have been able to be as close as we were or to finish second without him.”
The NC State women, with the bulk of their upper-class core sidelined by injuries or injury-related conditioning issues, started an all-freshman lineup, and finished 10th in the women’s 6k championship race. Emily Pritt was the Wolfpack’s highest finisher, in 24th place in a time of 21:31.4. Caroline Kirby was 52nd, Andie Cozzarelli 61st, Lauren Bishop 75th and Amanda Burger 80th.
Third-ranked Florida State won the women’s championship, followed by Boston College, Wake Forest and Duke.
The Cavaliers won the men’s championship with a team score of 40 points. Ryan Foster won the individual title for UVa, running the 8k course in a time of 24:27.1. The Wolfpack was paced by sixth-year senior Bobby Mack and redshirt-junior John Martinez, who finished fourth and fifth, resectively. Mack ran the course in a time of 24:30.8, one-tenth of a second ahead of Martinez. Senior Gavin Coombs was 12th at 24:47.0, to earn All-ACC honors for the fourth time in his career. True freshman Ryan Hill was 13th at 24:47.2 and was ACC Freshman of the Year.
“I take my hat off to the University of Virginia,” Wolfpack coach Rollie Geiger said. “They won the race. They beat us. They didn’t back into it. They ran a really strong race and ran really well as a group. We weren’t that far behind them, but our goal is not to finish second in this race. I was happy that we had four guys make All-ACC, and I’m especially happy for Ryan Hill making rookie of the year. Still, winning the ACC is one of our goals every year and we didn’t accomplish that goal, so that’s disappointing.”
Mack battled Foster for the lead for much of the race, but Foster pulled away in the race’s final push. For Mack, who earned All-America honors as a true sophomore in 2004, the all-conference finish continued his remarkable comeback. Mack has battled injuries ever since his All-America season and appeared to exhaust his eligibility after the 2007 season. The university appealed to the NCAA to grant Mack an additional year of eligibility, however, and that was granted in September. His first race back with the Wolfpack was two weeks ago at the NCAA Pre-Nationals, and he responded with a top 30 finish.
“I was really hoping that Bobby Mack could win this race today after all he had to go through just to get to this point,” Geiger said. “But he ran a heck of a race, and we wouldn’t have been able to be as close as we were or to finish second without him.”
The NC State women, with the bulk of their upper-class core sidelined by injuries or injury-related conditioning issues, started an all-freshman lineup, and finished 10th in the women’s 6k championship race. Emily Pritt was the Wolfpack’s highest finisher, in 24th place in a time of 21:31.4. Caroline Kirby was 52nd, Andie Cozzarelli 61st, Lauren Bishop 75th and Amanda Burger 80th.
Third-ranked Florida State won the women’s championship, followed by Boston College, Wake Forest and Duke.
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