Hokies set for 2015 ACC Cross Country Championships

October 28, 2015

Both Tech teams head to Tallahassee with hopes of contending for a team title

BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s cross country teams left Wednesday to head to Florida for the 2015 ACC Cross Country Championships, which will be held Friday at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.

The men’s 8K race will begin at 9 a.m., while the women’s 6K race follows at 9:45. Both races can be seen live on ESPN3.

The Tech men’s team, led by Thomas Curtin, enters the Championships as the No. 18 team in the nation, according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll. The men’s race also features three other teams ranked in that poll, including Syracuse (No. 2), Virginia (No. 7) and NC State (No. 12).

Curtin won the NCAA Pre-National meet Oct. 17 – his first collegiate win in cross country – with a career-best time of 23 minutes, 18.2 seconds. He beat a field of 288 runners that included Oregon’s Edward Cheserek, the two-time defending national champion. Behind Curtin, the Hokies finished in sixth place as a team out of 42 teams at the NCAA Pre-Nationals.

Curtin, who took a redshirt year in cross country last year, figures to be one of the frontrunners for the ACC’s individual crown, along with Syracuse’s Martin Hehir, who won the ACC title last season, and Duke’s Shaun Thompson, who won the Princeton Inter-Regional Invitational and finished seventh at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. Louisville’s Edwin Kibichiy also figures to be in the mix, as he finished 13^th at the NCAA Pre-Nationals.

On the women’s side, a young Hokies’ squad will be led by juniors Hanna Green, Abigail Motley and Shannon Morton, along with sophomore Katie Kennedy, who was the Hokies’ top finisher at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. She came in 104^th with her season-best time of 21:10.8. Green has been the Hokies’ top finisher in two meets this season (the VT Alumni Invite and the Princeton Inter-Regional Invitational).

The women’s race at the ACC Championships will feature five ranked teams, with Virginia (No. 7) and NC State (No. 8) leading the way. Syracuse (No. 16), Notre Dame (No. 17) and North Carolina (No. 29) also are ranked.

Both Tech squads finished sixth at the ACC Championships a year ago. Syracuse won the men’s team title for the second straight year, while the North Carolina women won for the first time since 2003.

For updates on Virginia Tech cross country, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Track