Tech men finish sixth, women eighth at NCAA Southeast Regional

Brent Musselman, Andrew Gaiser, Daniel Jaskowak and Katie Kennedy earned all-region honors

November 11, 2016

EARLYSVILLE, Va. – Behind Brent Musselman’s 19^th-place finish, the Virginia Tech men’s team came in sixth in the team competition, as both the Tech men’s and women’s cross country squads competed at the NCAA Southeast Regional held Friday at Panorama Farms outside of Charlottesville.

Musselman, a junior from Edgewater, Maryland, ran the hilly 10K course in a time of 29 minutes, 53.8 seconds – easily breaking his career-best time at this distance by more than two minutes.

“He’s been healthy and consistent for the first time this fall,” Tech cross country coach Ben Thomas said of Musselman. “This course really suits him and this distance really suits him. He’s come a long way. To get 19^th here is really outstanding, but I think he has more in him. I’m really excited to see what he can do in track.”

The Hokies also got strong performances from stalwarts Andrew Gaiser and Daniel Jaskowak, arguably their most consistent runners the entire fall. Gaiser came in 23^rd in a time of 30:05.7, while Jaskowak was 25^th in a time of 30:09.4.

All three earned All-Southeast Region honors for the first time in their careers. With their performances, they became the first Tech trio to make an all-region team in the same year for the first time since 1987.

“I was really pleased,” Thomas said. “It was great to see those guys get their first all-region performance. I also thought the other guys raced well.

“You look at the whole season, and I feel like this team really overachieved. I can’t complain about their efforts at all. So I’m excited about the individuals and excited for track season.”

The Tech men had 181 points. NC State won the men’s team competition with 90 points, followed by Virginia, Furman, Eastern Kentucky and Kentucky. Campbell’s Amon Terer won the men’s race with a time of 28:48.7, while his teammate, Lawrence Kipkoech came in second with a time of 28:48.8.

On the women’s side, the Hokies’ Katie Kennedy led the squad, finishing 21^st out of 188 runners with a time of 21:05.1, as the Hokies were eighth in the team competition. Kennedy completed the course roughly 50 seconds behind winner Annie Bothma of Coastal Carolina, who won with a time of 20:15.4.

By virtue of her top-25 finish, Kennedy earned All-Southeast Region honors for the first time in her career. She became the Hokies’ first all-region choice since 2014.

Tech’s second finisher was Lauren Berman, who came in 41^st, and Abigail Motley was 47^th. The two completed the course in times of 21:38.9 and 21:42.1, respectively, giving the squad three top-50 finishers.

Tech’s other finishers included Laurie Barton (61^st, 21:59.0), Kayla Richardson (75^th, 22:06.5), Tessa Riley (104^th, 22:28.9) and Sara Freix (140^th, 23:01.4).

“The team race was just so tight,” Thomas said. “There were 70 points from qualifying for nationals [the top two teams qualified for the NCAA Championships] to where we were in eighth. That’s a tight race.

“Our four and five, one of them [Barton] didn’t even run cross country in high school, and Kayla Richardson has come a long way just to get the place she got today. [Lauren] Berman and [Abigail] Motley gave good efforts. They just couldn’t quite hang on at the end. It wasn’t our best team race, but I really liked the effort, and I’m excited about where they’re headed.”

The NCAA cross country selection committee announces the field for the NCAA Championships on Saturday. The two Tech squads would need to receive one of 13 at-large bids on each side to make the field.

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