The Virginia Tech cross country squads conclude the 2020 fall campaign Friday morning when both compete at the 2020 ACC Championships held at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
MEET INFORMATION
Date: Friday, Oct. 30
Location: Cary, North Carolina
Course: WakeMed Soccer Park (host is NC State)
Times: men's race (10 a.m.); women's race (11 a.m.)
Distances: 6K (women), 8K (men)
Live results: (Click HERE)
Broadcast coverage:
• Men's race - (Click HERE)
• Women's race (Click HERE)
Both squads competed at the Panorama Farms Invitational held in Earlysville, Virginia on Oct. 16. Lindsey Butler headlined the performances for the Hokies, finishing fifth in the 5K event with a time of 17 minutes, 11.2 seconds. On the men's side, Max Greczyn led the Hokies, coming in seventh in the 8K race with a time of 24:18.2. Three other Tech men's runners – Antonio Lopez Segura (14th), Osman Humeida (15th) and Ben Fleming (18th) also registered top-20 finishes.
Here are some more meet notes:
HOKIE HISTORY AT ACCs
A year ago, while competing at the ACC Championships on its home course, both Virginia Tech squads finished in the top four of the team standings. Thanks to Peter Seufer's winning the league title, the men's team came in third, and the women's team – behind Sara Freix's silver medal – came in fourth.
The Tech men's team has finished in the top five at the ACC Championships on 10 occasions in the past 13 seasons. The women's team has performed well at this meet of late, finishing the top five in each of the past four seasons.
SEYOUM LEADS WAY FOR TECH MEN
Fitsum Seyoum is the most experienced of the Tech men's runner – in fact, he stands as the lone senior on the squad. Seyoum paced the Hokies in the Virginia Tech Invitational, coming in fourth with a time of 25:02.3. He did not finish the race at the Panorama Farms Invitational.
Seyoum is coming off a junior season in which he earned both All-ACC and All-Southeast Region honors. He came in 11th at the ACC Championships last fall and then finished ninth at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet. The postseason accolades marked the first of his career.
JUNIORS COMING TO THE FOREFRONT
The departures of steady seniors Seufer, Diego Zarate and Jack Joyce created voids on the men's team, but Osman Humeida and Ben Fleming – two redshirt juniors – have been consistent through the Hokies' two meets this season. Humeida has finished in the top 15 twice, coming in 14th at the Virginia Tech Invitational and then setting a career-best 8K time of 24:32.5 with his 15th-place finish at the Panorama Farms Invitational. Fleming has finished in the top 20 in both meets, coming in 16th at the Virginia Tech Invitational and 18th at the Panorama Farms Invitational.
BUTLER DID IT
Butler, a sophomore from Corning, New York, has been the most consistent runner this fall for the Tech women's squad, pacing the Hokies in their previous two fall races. In the Virginia Tech Invitational, she came in 11th with a time of 21:31.3 and then followed that with the fifth-place finish at the Panorama Farms Invitational.
Fellow sophomore Grace Boone has been just as consistent, registering two top-20 finishes. Boone took 18th in the Virginia Tech Invitational with a time of 22:03.2 and came in eighth at the Panorama Farms Invitational in a time of 17:23.7. The eighth-place finish was the best of her career.
SUCCESS AT WAKEMED
The ACC has held its cross country championships at WakeMed Soccer Park on two other occasions – 2009 and 2016. Four seasons ago, both the Tech men and women fared well, with the women's team finishing third in what represents its best finish ever at this meet (also third in 2017). The men's team came in fourth that season.
In 2016, Katie Kennedy earned All-ACC honors for the women's team, sparking that group to the third-place finish. Kennedy currently serves on the Tech staff as the director of operations.