University of North Carolina Athletics
Best Games Of 2014-15: No. 10
July 6, 2015 | Cross Country
Once again this July, GoHeels.com will count down the top 25 wins of the school year. Check back around noon EDT each weekday for the latest update before the No. 1 win is revealed on July 17. For the first 15 games in the countdown, click here, here and here.
No. 10: Carolina Wins First ACC XC Title Since 2003 - Women's Cross Country, Oct. 31, 2014
For the first time since the inception of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953, North Carolina athletics saw an academic year pass without an ACC title in 2013-14. The Carolina women's cross country team made sure it would be a short wait for the first conference title of 2014-15 when the Tar Heels dominated the field at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Virginia, for the program's first ACC crown since 2003.
Led by top-10 finishes from Annie LeHardy and Lianne Farber, Carolina bested six-time defending champion Florida State by 42 points. It was a comprehensive victory for coach Mark VanAlstyne's group, which placed all five scorers in the top 20 and six in the top 22.
"It feels good," VanAlstyne said after the race. "We talked all the time about the tradition of the cross country and track field programs at UNC, and what it means to have had all those great runners go before us and our commitment to uphold the standard that they set, every time we pull on the jersey, the uniform, so it means a great deal."
In addition to LeHardy and Farber, Karley Rempel, Caroline Alcorta and Lizzy Whelan scored for the Tar Heels. By virtue of their top-20 finishes, all five UNC scorers earned All-ACC honors.
LeHardy earned a spot at the NCAA Championships at the Panorama Farms course in 2013 and used that experience to lead Carolina to its first ACC title since the Shalane Flanagan-led team of 2003.
"This is just incredible," LeHardy said. "We've waited for so long for this moment. It's awesome. It's a great homecoming. I felt so good being back on this course that I ran well at last year. And I knew it was a really good course for our girls. We're a strong team, and this course, I think, played to our advantage. We were the underdogs, and we knew what we could do, and that gave us a little bit of a fire to see those rankings every week, and we knew what we were capable of. I'm not surprised, but I'm extremely happy."
Previous Entries
No. 11: No. 6 Carolina 96, No. 18 Rutgers 93 (2 OT) - Women's Basketball, Dec. 4, 2014
No. 12: No. 8 Carolina 3, No. 3 Florida State 1 - Volleyball, Nov. 14, 2014
No. 13: No. 1 Carolina 2, No. 2 Connecticut 1 - Field Hockey, Sept. 28, 2014
No. 14: Carolina 7, No. 24 Notre Dame 3 (8 inn.) - Softball, April 26, 2015
No. 15: No. 17 Carolina 5, No. 21 Georgia Tech 3 - Baseball, March 20, 2015
No. 16: No. 9 Carolina 3, No. 18 Notre Dame 2 (2 OT) - Women's Soccer, Sept. 20, 2014
No. 17: No. 19 Carolina 71, No. 3 Virginia 67 (ACC Tournament) - Men's Basketball, March 14, 2015
No. 18: No. 16 Carolina 4, No. 9 Duke 3 (ACC Championship) - Men's Tennis, April 24, 2015
No. 19: No. 4 Carolina 17, No. 2 Syracuse 15 - Men's Lacrosse, April 11, 2015
No. 20: No. 2 Carolina 4, No. 12 Virginia 3 - Women's Tennis, April 10, 2015
No. 21: No. 14 Carolina 1, No. 7 Penn State 0 (2 OT) - Women's Soccer, Sept. 9, 2014
No. 22: No. 2 Carolina 12, No. 3 Duke 6 - Women's Lacrosse, April 17, 2015
No. 23: Carolina 15, No. 9 Georgia 9 - Softball, April 2, 2015
No. 24: Carolina 17, No. 12 Virginia 16 - Wrestling, Feb. 7, 2015
No. 25: Tar Heels Sweep Virginia in Charlottesville - Swimming and Diving, Jan. 24, 2015
