Canes Head to ACC Championships in Clemson
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Clemson, S.C. for the ACC Championships this Saturday, October 29. The men’s 8k race will start at 10 a.m., followed by the women’s 6k competition at 11 a.m at the Musser Farms Course.
“Both teams are very excited about this year’s ACC Championships, said assistant cross country coach Damon Griffiths. “We’re really going in there with an attitude that we really want to have a strong team finish.”
The women will be led by sophomores Lindsi Arrington and Brooke Dovell. They will be joined in Clemson by fellow sophomores Cristina Brea and Allison Ludwick, and seniors Casey Crist and Jennifer Estime. The women’s race will feature five schools ranked in the Top 30 of the USTFCCCA poll. Florida State enters the championship as the nation’s top-ranked team. The Seminoles are followed by Virginia (17), NC State (21), North Carolina (22) and Boston College (24).
“On women’s side, I’m looking for Lindsay and Brooke to continue to lead us as they’ve done the majority of the season,” said Griffiths. “I think them running a 6k last week at Princeton gives them a greater advantage than years past.”
The men will once again be led by sophomores Connor Adams, Luke Fontaine and junior Greg Kaczka. Joining them at the ACC Championships will be freshman Jacee Jarnigan, sophomores Sean Pezzulo and Phil Wood, and junior Matthew Wilson. In the men’s rankings, Florida State enters the championship as the highest ranked ACC team at No. 18 nationally, while NC State is 19th and North Carolina 30th.
“On the men’s side were looking for some consistency on the top between our Top 3. I’m very confident about Greg, Connor and Luke. We need them to be very solid up front,” added Griffiths. “We’re hoping for our four and five runners to finish strong, which will help the team reach its goal.”
At last year’s conference championship meet in Boston, Florida State made a clean sweep of the team titles, capturing its first-ever ACC men’s championship and its third-straight women’s title.
“We prepared well this season. Now this is the opportunity for us to see how much we’ve grown from the start of the season,” said Griffiths.
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