BLACKSBURG, Va. — The University of Notre Dame cross country program began its postseason journey Friday at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at Virginia Tech. In a tight race, the Irish men placed second among its conference foes, while the women’s squad came in third in the 15-team field at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course.
No. 28 Syracuse captured the ACC men’s title with 68 points, defeating the 20th-ranked Irish by five points. Sixth-ranked NC State captured its fourth straight women’s ACC title with a score of 64, followed by No. 10 Florida State with 76 and No. 17 Notre Dame with 116.
The Irish totaled six All-ACC honorees between the teams, with three from each group finishing in the top 21. Junior Yared Nuguse was the men’s runner-up, marking his best conference finish, while sophomore Dylan Jacobs placed fifth and junior Andrew Alexander placed 14th to earn all-conference accolades. On the women’s side, Maddy Denner placed third in her first ACC appearance — also earning her ACC Freshman of the Year honors — followed by graduate student Anna Rohrer in seventh and sophomore Jackie Gaughan in 18th.
The men’s 8K featured a back-and-forth battle between the Irish and Orange as the teams traded leads through three checkpoints along the course. By the 1.6K mark, Nuguse began to separate from the pack along with leader Peter Seufer, and maintained his second-place status throughout. In the last half, NC State’s Ian Shanklin ran with Nuguse, but the Irish junior outpaced him in the final stretch to capture his best career ACC placement.
Nuguse finished in 24:21.6 while Jacobs’ fifth-place finish came in 24:35.6. All told, Notre Dame’s scorers were separated by 46 seconds, while the Syracuse spread was just 14.
“Last year we won a very close meet and this year we are on the other side of it,” men’s head cross country coach Sean Carlson said. “Syracuse ran a great team race and my hat is off to them. We have some things that we need to correct over the last few weeks of the season from a depth perspective, but our front guys Nuguse and Jacobs ran fantastic and it is a great step for both of them.”
In the women’s 6K race, Denner stuck to the negative split strategy that had benefited her all season, rising from 28th place at the 1.6K mark to sixth at the 4K split before finishing in third in 20:50.0. Though academically a sophomore, Denner captured 2019 ACC Freshman of the Year honors as a January enrollee who did not compete in cross country in 2018.
Up Next
The Irish now look to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships, slated for Friday, November 15 at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin. It will be a familiar course for the Irish, who ran there just two weeks ago at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
Results
2019 ACC Cross Country Championships
Buford Meredith Cross Country Course
Blacksburg, Va.
Nov. 1, 2019
Men’s Championship
Team Results
1. No. 28 Syracuse 68
2. No. 20 Notre Dame 73
3. Virginia 100
3. No. 22 Virginia Tech 100
5. Wake Forest 116
6. Florida State 155
7. Duke 162
8. NC State 164
9. Georgia Tech 255
10. North Carolina 298
11. Pittsburgh 315
12. Louisville 341
13. Boston College 405
14. Clemson 412
15. Miami 466
Individual Results
2. Yared Nuguse 24:21.6
5. Dylan Jacobs 24:35.6
14. Andrew Alexander 24:46.5
23. Matthew Carmody 24:59.4
29. Danny Kilrea 25:07.7
43. Kevin Salvano 25:20.8
44. Brendan Fraser 25:21.8
58. Tyler Keslin 25:34.6
91. Peter Monahan 26:28.8
Women’s Championship
Team Results
1. No. 6 NC State 64
2. No. 10 Florida State 76
3. No. 17 Notre Dame 116
4. No. 22 Virginia Tech 146
5. RV Syracuse 154
6. Wake Forest 158
7. No. 27 Boston College 159
8. North Carolina 196
9. Duke 202
10. Georgia Tech 238
11. Virginia 276
12. Louisville 314
13. Clemson 352
14. Pittsburgh 410
15. Miami 493
Individual Results
3. Maddy Denner 20:50.0
7. Anna Rohrer 21:01.6
18. Jackie Gaughan 21:18.4
36. Annasophia Keller 21:42.6
55. Erin Archibeck 22:10.0
57. Olivia Markezich 22:11.4
67. Erin Sullivan 22:23.7
89. Jocelyn Long 22:46.5
90. Kelly Hart 22:46.6
98. Madison Ronzone 22:57.9
–ND–