University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
ACC Championships
Ilse, Carroll Earn All-ACC Honors At ACC XC Championship
October 28, 2016 | Cross Country
CARY, N.C. – Morgan Ilse and Logan Carroll led their respective University of North Carolina cross country teams at the ACC Cross Country Championships on Friday and earned All-ACC honors for their efforts. Ilse finished 16th while Carroll took 20th in the men's race.
The men's team ended up taking sixth place after some strong performances from Carolina's upperclassmen. Carroll, who had struggled for most of the season, had his best race of the year finishing the 8k race in 23:49.7. Mark Derrick wasn't far behind in 25th at 23:57.3 and Joe Sansone had his best performance at the ACC Championships taking 27th in 23:59.5. The Tar Heels' freshmen also showed promise on the day with Mark Myers taking 54th in 24:34. Jeremy Brown was only a few steps behind Myers at 24:35.8 and took 59th.
After a season in which the team struggled, the men's team certainly had their best performance of the year when it mattered most.
“We know that we're a better team than we've been running this year,” head coach Mark VanAlstyne said. “It's not like football where you lose eight or nine games but you win the last one and you still have a terrible season. Cross country is very postseason centric. You could run below par the whole season and then peak and have great races at the championship meets and then it's a great season. We were very cognizant of that and knowing that we could do it. The guys fought and believed in themselves and had fantastic performances across the board.
“Logan's a gutsy competitor and he's had struggles this season, but we never doubted him and his teammates never doubted him. The only person that was showing any doubt was probably Logan. He's tremendously talented and we knew he could do it. He came in the clutch for us.”
Carolina's women's team showed plenty of determination and potential among the young group. Morgan Ilse led the Tar Heels in the women's 6k race taking 16th and earning her first All-ACC honor in her career. The sophomore ran the challenging course in 20:31.7, a new personal record. Mady Clahane finished 56th in 21:30.4. Blake Dodge finished 65th in 21:37.6 in her best cross country performance of her life. Erin Edmundson took 74th in 21:46.6. Blair Ramsey finished 123rd in 23:06.3. The team finished in 13th with 299 points competing with only five girls, and only one of which is a junior or older.
“I saw tremendous leadership from a great, great person, which is what I've seen from her all year,” ValAlstyne said of Ilse. “Lesser individuals would have been beaten down by the adversity that the women's team has faced this year. I don't think I've seen her without a smile on her face this whole season. That's a testament to her character and the way she's led these ladies and made sure they kept their eye on the possibilities and not the past. I appreciate that from her tremendously. We talked last night that every team, when they win that national championship, has a moment that they look back on where it was a low point, but also a time it became the team that they were to be. I think that moment is this season for that team.
“I've got to give a shoutout to Blake Dodge because she's never been known as a cross country runner and 6k races are certainly not her thing. I give credit to her for kind of shaking up our pack mid-race today. She ran a phenomenal race. She's become one of the leaders of this team too.”
Though Carolina didn't win an ACC Championship on Friday, the men's team had their best performance of the year by far and the women's team showed a lot of potential on such a young team. Carolina will have another opportunity to race at the NCAA Southeast Regional on Nov. 11 in Earlysville, Va.
Players Mentioned
