Miami XC Set to Compete at ACC Championship
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami cross country team is set to compete at the 2018 ACC Championship on Friday hosted by Boston College at Franklin Park.
Both championships will be shown live on ACC Network Extra and may be viewed here for the men’s event and here for the women’s event.
The women’s 6k final opens the competition at 10:03 a.m., followed by the men’s 8k championship at 11:03. Live results may be viewed during and after the Championships here.
Friday’s race marks the second year the ACC Cross Country Championship will be held at Franklin Park in Boston. Miami will have 12 athletes competing in Friday’s events, six men and six women.
“We have prepared really well for this meet,” distance coach Damon Griffiths said.
Sophomore Dylan Sykes will lead the men’s side in competition like he’s done all season long with top finishes in each race this year. Sykes posted his best 8K time at the Mountain Dew Invitational with a time of 25:39.
“Dylan has looked strong over the past couple of weeks in practice,” Griffiths said.
Sykes will be joined by five other Canes in the Men’s 8K, including Matthew Wiefels who has finished second to Sykes in every race this year. Freshmen James Hasell and Sam Fleischman, sophomore Taj Bland and senior Sean Hagert will join the two in the men’s fourth 8K event of the season.
The men will be in competition against the defending ACC Champions Syracuse who enter Friday’s race holding the No. 10 spot in the latest USTFCCCA rankings, while Virginia is at No. 14 and Notre Dame is ranked No. 15.
Six Canes women will compete in their first 6K event of the season with senior Anne den Otter leading the way. den Otter will be joined by Simone Vreeland who ran a season-best time last time out for the Canes with a time of 19:14.04 in the 5K.
“Anne and Simone have led the women’s pack in practice, so we’ll need to hold strong through two miles,” Griffiths said.
Sophomores Abby Kettle and Emma Langlois, junior Olivia Raymond and freshman Lauren Schiffenhaus close out the competitors for the Canes. The women’s team will be up against last season’s ACC champion, NC State, which looks for its third straight ACC crown.
NC State is ranked at No. 12, Notre Dame at No. 18, Georgia Tech at No. 22, Syracuse at No. 25 and Florida State at No. 29 entering Friday morning.
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