Boston College
ACC Championships
Cross Country Concludes Successful Day at ACC Championship
October 30, 2010 | Men's Track & Field
Oct. 30, 2010
Franklin Park, Boston, Mass. -
Picture-perfect New England weather greeted two spectacular fields of runners at the ACC Cross Country Championship on Saturday morning in Franklin Park, Boston, Mass.
In its first time hosting the conference championship, Boston College utilized home course advantage to produce excellent results. The 25th-ranked women took fourth with 100 points and the men ended the day in ninth with 254 points, both improving over last year's final standings.
"Hosting was a lot of fun," Boston College men's head coach Matt Kerr said. "The ACC and BC's Operations Department did such an amazing job organizing and setting up the course. We had a great crowd and everyone I talked to loved the course and how smoothly everything went."
In all, the Eagles turned 13 of their fastest times of the year.
"The team ran really well and I was excited," men's head coach Matt Kerr stated. "The men placed one spot higher than last year, but the results were such a significant improvement overall. The attitude in the race and the way we ran. Everyone ran through the line. We had seven guys run PRs or close, so you can't argue with that. We were only 12 points back from seventh, which is agonizing, but that's cross country."
Leading the men's team was sophomore Louis Serafini, who finished with a personal record (PR) time of 24:51.0 for 35th place overall.
"I felt a lot better today than I have in a while and the team looked really good out there," Serafini commented. "I may have went out a little too hard, but I put myself in that front pack, which is what you need to do. Then I started to fall back probably around 5k, but I was able to move up through the first and second Wilderness loops and pushed on through there. I started to feel really good around that 5k point and maintained that the rest of the way."
Fellow sophomores Danny Kane and Jordan Hamm score second and third for BC, coming in at 25:24.3 (PR) and 25:34.0 respectively. Senior Ian Thomas was just shy of his PR, pushing through at 25:45.4, but classmate Theodore Doyle posted his fastest time of the season at 25:50.2 to complete the tally for the Eagles. Grad students Brian Hughes (25:58.6) and Cory Ahern (26:32.6) also recorded their quickest time this year.
"It's awesome," Serafini added. "As a team, we are way ahead of where we were last year. Things are looking very promising. Our top three guys are all sophomores and will be back next year. The rest of the year should be fun." Junior Jillian King led the Eagles on the women's side with a sixth place finish (20:30.4), earning her second All-ACC award in two seasons.
"We went out strong, but it wasn't as fast as we're used to," King said. "We were in the lead pack, so I tried to stay with them, because I knew if I could be up with the leaders that I would place high enough for us to do well as a team. Coming through the two mile marker I was feeling pretty good. The girl from FSU got me coming down the hill and I knew the Virginia girls were coming behind me at the end, so I tried to finish hard."
Senior Caroline King produced a strong kick to finish in seventh (20:31.6) and join her sister on the podium for her first all-conference distinction in cross country.
"It just happens that way," Jillian stated about the tandem. "Caroline is so good at track and I prefer cross country, so it's great to have her up close. Down the stretch I knew she was right behind me and it's a good feeling to know your sister is right there. We worked hard down the stretch and it was exciting. I'm just happy our team did well and improved from last year. We got fourth place and beat some good teams. It's great to go into Regionals doing well as a team, so we will continue to work together.
Despite several of the Boston College women competing over six kilometers for the first time, BC was able to produce its lowest point total at a conference championship meet since joining the ACC in 2005.
Senior walk-on Hope Krause narrowly missed all-conference honors in her first attempt, coming in at 20:22.9 for 16th place. Classmate Madeline Wallace crushed her previous 6k PR, crossing the line in 21:25.8 - over 45 seconds faster - at 34th overall and sophomore Elizabeth Hynes finished in 21:32.9 for 37th to complete the scoring for the fourth place Eagles.
Also turning out their best performance the BC was junior Kaitlyn Cooney (21:59.9) and sophomores Allison Stasiuk (21:46.1), Elizabeth O'Brien (21:56.6) and Sarah Lord (22:23.8).
However, the individual honors went to freshman Laura Hoer of N.C. State and Emil Heineking of Virginia, while Florida State captured both team titles, becoming the only conference program outside of N.C. State to simultaneously house both trophies.
"I'm really surprised and still can't believe this happened," Hoer commented afterwards. "I knew we have such a good conference and such a strong field coming out here, but I also have confidence in all that my coaches do for me and what they told me coming in. I told myself I would stick with the front group, so that's pretty much what I did and held on. It was a tough course and was definitely a tough race, but I don't think it's really settled in yet."
The Seminole women - ranked third in the country - earned their fourth consecutive ACC crown with 52 points. No. 24 Virginia (75), No. 12 Duke (99), No. 25 Boston College (100) and No. 17 North Carolina (123) rounded out the top five teams.
"It was good," Florida State women's head coach Karen Harvey said. "We had a few problems out there, but every meet we appear to be getting better. This is a very, very talented team and we still haven't seen everything from them yet. We have three weeks left in the season, we're going to enjoy the next few days and go back to work. We have big goals for nationals. It was very tough on our lungs to come from 90 degree weather a few days ago and it was cold during our race. It showed the character of our girls, they believed they could win and went out and acted on that."
The eighth ranked Florida State men captured its first ACC team title in school history, using 43 points to top other nationally ranked conference foes, defending ACC Champion No. 16 N.C. State (81), No. 25 North Carolina (84), No. 19 Virginia (92) and No. 14 Duke (93).
For the second straight year, Virginia provided a one-two punch. Heineking defended his throne with a 23:40.1, squeaking by his teammate, junior Ryan Collins who crossed the line in 23:40.5, also for the second year in a row. With the victory, he became only the ninth athlete to capture multiple ACC titles.
"It feels great," Heineking exclaimed. "Coming into this race, I felt like this guy with the target on his back and kind of ran that way the first 5k. I think I lead almost the whole race, but between 5k and 7k a group moved in front of me and I was able to move up during Bear Cage Hill and run down hard through the finish. It is very special to repeat. I don't think too many guys have done that before. "
Boston College will return to competition with the NCAA Regional Championship in Hammonassett State Park in Connecticut on Nov. 13.
Women's All-ACC Team
1. Laura Hoer - 20:04.4 (N.C. State) $ #
2. Pasca Cheruiyot - 20:05.4 (Florida State)
3. Anna Nosenko - 20:10.6 (Wake Forest)
4. Kendra Schaaf - 20:11.7 (North Carolina)
5. Pilar McShine - 20:25.9 (Florida State)
6. Jillian King - 20:30.4 (Boston College)
7. Caroline King - 20:31.6 (Boston College)
8. Barbara Strehler - 20:33.1 (Virginia)
9. Stephanie Garcia - 20:33.2 (Virginia)
10. Morgane Gay - 20:36.7 (Virginia)
11. Andie Cozzarelli - 20:40.4 (N.C. State)
12. Astrid Leutert - 20:44.2 (Florida State)
13. Juliet Bottorff - 20:34.4 (Duke)
14. Madeline Morgan - 20:49.2 (Duke)
Men's All-ACC Team
1.Emil Heineking - 23:40.1 (Virginia) $
2 Ryan Collins - 23:40.5 (Virginia)
3 Matthew Leeder - 23:42.2 (Florida State)
4 Ciaran O'Lionaird - 23:43.6 (Florida State)
5 Bo Waggoner - 23:43.9 (Duke)
6 Adam Cunningham - 23:44.1 (North Carolina)
7 Evan Watchempino - 23:48.9 (North Carolina)
8 Greg Kelsey - 23:50.0 (Maryland)
9 Andrew Colley - 23:56.1 NC State)
10 Ryan Hill - 24:07.0 10 (NC State)
11 Jakub Zivec - 24:07.6 (Florida State) #
12 David Forrester - 24:07.9 (Florida State)
13 Wesley Rickman - 24:09.5 (Florida State)
14 Jake Hurysz - 24:10.7 (North Carolina)
$ Indicates ACC Runner of the Year
# Indicates ACC Freshman of the Year
Boston College Finishes
Women:
6. Jillian King - 20:30.4*
7. Caroline King - 20:31.6*
16. Hope Krause - 20:52.9*
34. Madeline Wallace - 21:25.8*
37. Elizabeth Hynes - 21:32.9*
43. Allison Stasiuk - 21:46.1*
47. Elizabeth O'Brien - 21:56.6*
51. Kaitlyn Cooney - 21:59.9*
65. Sarah Lord - 22:23.8*
66. Grace Rodriguez - 22:24.9
Men:
35. Louis Serafini - 24:51.0*
56. Danny Kane - 25:24.3*
61. Jordan Hamm - 25:34.0!
70. Ian Thomas - 25:45.4
71. Theodore Doyle - 25:50.2!
77. Brian Hughes - 25:58.6!
94. Cory Ahern - 26:32.6*
97. Michael Keebler - 26:40.6
* Indicates PR
! Indicates season's best
Team standings available in PDF at the beginning of the release.
