More ACC cross country honors for UVA’s Rohann Asfaw, Wes Porter

UVA senior Rohann Asfaw and freshman Wes Porter were honored among this week’s ACC Cross Country Performers of the Week.

ACC Men’s Performer of the Week – Rohann Asfaw, Virginia, Sr., Rockville, Md.

Asfaw led the 8K field for his second consecutive meet with a time of 23:32.5 at the Wolfpack Invite hosted by NC State. Running on the WakeMed Soccer Park course that is slated to play host to the ACC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 30, Asfaw won the race by 2.5 seconds ahead of NC State’s JP Flavin, who checked in at 23:35. Asfaw’s time was a career best, improving on his performance of 24:03.1 at the Virginia Invite on Sept. 25 by more than 30 seconds. Asfaw is just the third male runner in the past five years to be named NCAA Division I National Athlete of the Week twice in a season. He joins Iowa State’s Edwin Kurgat (2019) and former Syracuse national champion Justyn Knight (2016).

ACC Women’s Performer of the Week – Dominique Clairmonte, NC State, Sr., Lexington, Ohio

Clairmonte ran her way to an individual title at the Wolfpack Invite last Wednesday, winning the 5K with a time of 16:56.4. She finished approximately seven seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, NC State teammate Hannah Steelman, and more than 30 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher, North Carolina’s Sasha Neglia, who was named the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week on Sept. 29. This is the first time since 2015 that an athlete from NC State has been named National Athlete of the Week during the cross country season. Ryen Frazier earned the honor twice five years ago.

ACC Women’s Freshman of the Week – Sasha Neglia, North Carolina, Fr., Kingsport, Tenn.

Neglia led the Tar Heels at the Wolfpack Invite with her third-place 5K finish of 17:29.5. She trailed two NC State seniors and was the only freshman among the meet’s top nine runners. Neglia earned her second ACC Freshman of the Week honor of the season.

ACC Men’s Freshman of the Week – Wes Porter, Virginia, Fr., Kansas City, Mo.

Porter turned in the top time by a freshman in the men’s 8K at the Wolfpack Invite. With a fifth-place finish of 24:01.4, he dropped 14 seconds off his season-opening time of 24:15.4 at the Virginia Invite. It marked the two-time ACC Freshman of the Week’s second top-five finish in as many meets and the second time in his young collegiate career that he placed second among Cavalier runners in the field.