UVA, State take top honors at NC State Invitational
Midweek ACC Cross Country action saw the Virginia men and NC State women claim team championships at Wednesday’s NC State Invitational, which also featured Duke and North Carolina.
Virginia senior Rohann Asfaw, who was named the USTFCCCA National Male Athlete of the Week for his standout performance at the Virginia Invite on Sept. 25, led the way for the Cavaliers again on Wednesday with a gold medal 8K time of 23:32.5. He posted the personal-best mark at the WakeMed Soccer Park course, which is slated to play host to the ACC Championships on Friday, Oct. 30.
The NC State women were led by senior Dominique Clairmonte’s gold medal 5K time of 16:56.4. Clairmonte placed seven seconds ahead of teammate Hannah Steelman and 33 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Sasha Neglia of North Carolina, who entered the race off impressive first-place finishes in their teams’ season openers less than two weeks earlier.
Runners of the Week
Georgia Tech senior Andrew Kent was named the ACC Men’s Performer of the Week, while Boston College senior Lauren White earned Women’s Performer of the Week honors. Kent placed second at last weekend’s Florida State Invitational, just 0.4 millimeters of a second behind the winner. White ran to a third-place finish on the women’s side of the same event. Each posted the highest finish among ACC runners.
Florida State’s Alyson Churchill and Pitt’s Sam Otis were named ACC Freshman of the Week. Churchill’s personal best 5K time Apalachee Regional Park was good for a fifth-place finish at the FSU Invite and helped the host Seminoles to the team title. Otis turned in an impressive collegiate debut, leading all freshmen runners and figuring in the team scoring in the Panthers’ dual meet at Navy.