Virginia Tech distance runner Peter Seufer came in fourth at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships held Saturday morning at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Seufer's finish marked the best ever by a Tech men's runner at the NCAA Championships in the history of the Hokies' men's program. Former runner and former distance coach Steve Taylor held the previous highest finish when he came in ninth at the 1987 NCAA Championships.
"I'm really proud of Peter and very happy with his finish," Tech head coach Eric Johannigmeier said. "To go out and lead like he did and respond when the pack caught him is truly impressive. Fourth place overall is truly special and a great way to end his cross country career."
Seufer, a redshirt senior from Lynchburg, Virginia, led the race with 2,000 meters to go in a 252-runner field. But Iowa State's Edwin Kurgat caught Seufer and won the national championship with a time of 30 minutes, 32.7 seconds. Colorado's Joe Klecker came in second, followed by BYU's Conner Mantz. Seufer ran the 10K course in a time of 30:40.1.
"I knew it was going in it that it was going to be a tough race given the level of competition and the sloppy course conditions," Seufer said. "I just wanted to put myself out there and see what I could accomplish. I might've come up short of winning, but I left it all out that and that's all I could have asked for."
Seufer, the ACC champion and the NCAA Southeast Region champion, also became an All-American for the second consecutive year. He is one of just two Tech men's runners to earn All-America honors twice – Will Mulherin did so in 2011 and 2012.
Behind Seufer, the Tech men's team finished 17th out of 31 teams in the team race. That marked the program's best finish since the 1987 team was fourth in the team race.
"Having our team there was incredibly special," Seufer said. "And knowing how hard we've worked for this, I couldn't have been more proud of how hard these guys fought – and we came away with one of the best finishes in school history."
Fitsum Seyoum was the Hokies' second finisher, as he came in 58th overall with a time of 31:34.6. Diego Zarate, running in his final cross country meet, was 105th with a time of 32:00.7. Antonio Lopez Segura (182nd) and Matthias Cannon (188th) rounded out the scoring for Tech.
Also, Sara Freix competed for the Hokies at the NCAA Championships after earning an individual at-large bid. The ACC silver medalist closed her cross country career by coming in 91st out of 254 runners, running the 6K course in a time of 21:12.7. The appearance marked the first for the Centreville, Virginia product.
"These guys and girls are so close to each other and really fought for each other all year long," Johannigmeier said. It's a great way to end the fall cross country season."
The meet marked the end of the cross country season.
