University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Elon Opener
Tar Heels Open 2017 Season At Elon
September 1, 2017 | Cross Country
ELON, N.C. - The University of North Carolina cross country programs begin their 2017 seasons at the Elon Opener Saturday. The Tar Heels will race 10 in the men's 6k beginning at 8:30 a.m., with eight to follow in the women's 4k at 9:15 a.m.
The field of teams is heavy with local competition in addition to Elon, including Campell, High Point, Meredith, North Carolina A&T, UNCG, UNC-Pembroke and UNCW. The field also includes the College of Charleston and Delaware.Â
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can keep up with live results through On The Mark Sports or follow @UNCTrack_Field on Twitter to receive information throughout the meet. Elon will also be posting meet results at @EU_XCTF and @elonscores on Twitter.Â
A recap will be posted on GoHeels.com following the completion of competition.Â
MEN'S PREVIEW
The 2017 cross country season looks to be defined by youth, and that is particularly true for the men's squad that lost three seniors from the 2016 team. This season, 14 of the 16 members on the men's side are underclassmen, 10 of which are true or redshirt freshman beginning competition this fall. Logan Carroll (Gig Harbor, Wash.) is the only returning student-athlete who has earned All-ACC honors in his career, which he did at the 2016 ACC Cross Country Championships after placing 20th.
"It's 100 percent a new era, and that's what we've been talking about," Head Cross Country Coach Mark VanAlstyne said. "These are the guys that are going to lead us to NCAAs and hopefully high-up at NCAAs over the next three or four years."
The men are finally healthy after an injury-plagued season, and VanAlstyne expects those athletes with redshirts attached to their years, like Brodie Modini (Queensland, Australia) and Alex Milligan (State College, Pa.), to make major contributions during this year's campaign.Â
VanAlsyne also expects newcomers like freshman Ian Moini (Princeton, N.J.) and Penn State-transfer Brandon Tubby (Hillsborough, N.J.) to make an immediate impact this year. But with all of the youth and inexperience, it may take a few meets to determine how this season will take shape.Â
"It would be super hard for me to put my finger on seven guys that I thought were going to be our final seven," VanAlstyne said. "I might could get you to ten or eleven, but I think we're going to have to get through that first big meet to see how it shakes out."
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
On the women's side, a bit more experience returns, but a majority of the team is also freshmen and sophomores. However, the team is excited to welcome back All-ACC and All-Region performer Caroline Alcorta, a senior from Springfield, Va., after she battled through injuries for the majority of the 2016-17 season.Â
"Caroline is bringing it every day in practice," VanAlstyne said. "It's going to be an eye-opener for a lot of people when she opens up."
Alcorta will lead the team along with junior Morgan Ilse (Dunwoody, Ga.), who was an All-ACC performer last season after finishing 16th at the ACC Cross Country Championships. VanAlsytne will also look to sophomores Mady Clahane (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), Blair Ramsey (Greensboro, N.C.) and Erin Edmundson (Prospect, Ky.) to be consistent contributing factors throughout the season.Â
Of the newcomers, Lindsey Lanier (Charlotte, N.C.) is expected to immediately contribute as a freshman.
"We're excited," VanAlstyne said. "By and large, the whole ladies' group looks good."
ELONÂ OPENER PREVIEW
The majority of the young Tar Heels will compete Saturday, while the more experienced student-athletes will wait to compete until after meets begin to count towards NCAA at-large points on Sept. 8.Â
On the men's side, Jeremy Brown, Logan Carroll, Carl Geiger, Alex Milligan, Brodie Modini, Mark Myers, Luke Peterson, Mitch Resor, Matt Thornton and Brandon Tubby will compete. For the women, Emma Astrike-Davis, Mady Clahane, Erin Edmundson, Casey Greenwalt, Lindsey Lanier, Blair Ramsey, Tasha Regan and Ashley Smith will race for the Tar Heels.
Last year at the Elon Opener, both the men and women took home victories, highlighted by Alcorta's first-place and Mark Myers fifth-place finishes.Â
"My biggest goal is I want to get to the finish line, finish our cool down, have lunch and have everyone be just as healthy as they were when we got to the meet," VanAlstyne said. "I want a good-race effort. I want everyone to start getting that race sharpness going again. I want to see them being competitive, even though it's still going to be a hard training week and we're not resting at the end of the week. They're probably going to be some dead legs on the starting line, but that doesn't mean you can't compete, and that's what we expect. We expect them to compete, to race hard. If there's any way possible for us to win, we're going to win, but at the end of the day in the big picture this is just another step in our preparation for, number one, the bigger meets we're going to be going to where we can get nationals qualifying points, but especially ACCs and NCAAs."
Players Mentioned
