Hokie ClubACC ChampionshipsWomen's Results
Men's Results
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Tasmin Fanning placed fourth and Paul LaPenna finished 11thoverall on the men's side to lead the Virginia Tech cross country teams at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, held Saturday morning on the Panorama Farms course in Charlottesville, Va.
"We really had some good quality individual performances," head coach Ben Thomas said. "I thought our top three runners really responded to competing on such a difficult course that is typical of ACC Championships."
The 25th-ranked women's squad finished fifth for the second consecutive season, scoring 121 points. Tasmin Fanning placed 42nd last season but came back this year to lead the Hokies on the 6k course with a time of 20:57.7.
"[Tasmin] was having trouble finishing races last season," Thomas said. "But this year, she has really improved on making sure she has enough to make a push in the standings as she gets closer to the finish line. Over the last 2k today, she moved up five spots."
Natalie Sherbak and Kelly Clark joined Tasmin Fanning in the top 14 to earn All-ACC status. Sherbak was seventh in 21:19.7, while Clark finished 12th in 21:38.8. The Hokies' three all-conference selections were the most of any other school in the ACC.
Jessica Fanning finished 46th with a 23:00.1 effort and Erin Reddan crossed the finish line 52nd(23:06.8). Lisa MacPherson and Lindsey King rounded out the Hokie effort: MacPherson finished 66th in 23:46.6 and King was 80th in 24:31.9.
LaPenna earned the Hokies' first-ever All-ACC honor for the men's team. After finishing sixth in the conference for the previous two seasons, the men's team improved to fifth place thanks to LaPenna's 11th-place 8k effort of 24:26.9. The Londonberry, N.H., native's time established a season-best and was a 10-spot improvement from his 21st-place finish at last season's conference meet.
"I was really proud of how [Paul] came back after having a sub-par performance in our last meet at the Chile Pepper [Invitational]," Thomas said. "He was determined to come back strong in a crucial meet this weekend."
Sophomore Devin Cornwall followed LaPenna in the top 20. Cornwall followed up his Freshman of the Year award-winning performance at last season's meet with an 18th-place finish thanks to a season-best time of 24:39.9.
Rider Clauss finished in 25:12.2 for 32nd place, while Matt Kroetch and James Scheiner took 38th and 40th, respectively. Kroetch completed the race in 25:27.0 and Scheiner finished in 25:31.5. Zach Thomas was 51st (25:53), Phil Padilla followed in 63rd (26:06.9), and Billy Berlin completed the Tech effort in 79th(27:00.5).
Virginia won the men's crown with 32 points and Florida State won on the women's side with 64 points. North Carolina State's Chris Kollar took the individual title in the men's race with a time of 24:02.1. The individual champion in the women's race was the Seminoles' Susan Kuijken, who finished in 20:23.5.
"I was proud of our effort today," Thomas said. "I know our top three runners can perform consistently, but we need the rest of our team to step up at regionals."
Tech hosts its annual Hokie Open Race next Saturday at 9 a.m. on Tech Cross Country Race. The Hokies resume their postseason on Nov. 10 at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships in Louisville, Ky. The race is set to start at 11 a.m.