The UVA men’s cross country team finished 18th overall at the NCAA Championships Saturday (Nov. 19) at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Ind. It was the Cavaliers’ best finish since 2013 when they were 13th.
The Cavaliers finished 18th with 476 points. Northern Arizona captured the team NCAA title with 125 points, followed by Stanford (158), Syracuse (164) and Ole Miss (196).
Redshirt sophomore Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.) led the Cavaliers across the line, finishing in 42nd overall in a time of 30:28.6 Senior Zach Herriott (Kansas City, Mo.) was next in 53rd overall in 30:34.1.
“It was a big bounce-back performance from Brent, who was sick at last week’s regional, by just missing an All-American spot (top 40),” UVA men’s cross country coach Pete Watson said. “He put himself in a good position and led the team today as he has all season. Zach ran a terrific second half of the race and we were fortunate for him to come back for a fifth year and be a great leader on this team.”
Freshman Lachlan Cook (Brisbane, Australia) was 103rd, while junior Chase Weaverling (Darnestown, Md.) and redshirt freshman Ari Klau (West Hartford, Conn.) were 181st and 208th, respectively, to round out the scoring five.
“Overall, we had three good scores and had some young guys learn how tough of a race this is,” Watson said. “This will be good experience for them for the future.”
This was Virginia’s fifth-consecutive year qualifying for the NCAA Championship as a team and 15th overall team appearance.
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