Three Meets In One Day for Carolina XC

Friday, October 15

Tallahassee, Fla.

8:30 AM

North Carolina

FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals (women)

Tar Heels at the start of the Nuttycombe Invitational, one of three meets where UNC competed on Friday.

October 15, 2021 | Cross Country

Friday was a busy day for the UNC cross country program, with Tar Heels competing at three different meets. The Carolina women placed fifth overall at the FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals Friday morning in Tallahassee, Fla., with senior Paige Hofstad 15^th overall in the field of 243 to lead the way.

In the afternoon, the UNC men placed 18^th at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wis., with freshman Parker Wolfe the top Tar Heel finisher in 24^th.

And in the late afternoon, three Tar Heels competed at the High Point VertCross Invitational in Kernersville, N.C.

Tallahassee: The Tar Heels finished with 184 team points, fifth behind Colorado (54), Utah (149), host FSU (163) and Ole Miss (165). After Hofstad in 20:12.4, freshman Brynn Brown was 39^th in 20:33.5 and sophomore Sasha Neglia was right with her in 41^st (20:35.6).

The 6K race was run Apalachee Regional Park, which will be the site of the 2021 NCAA Championships later this fall.

"Today was a great measuring stick for our young group," said Dylan Sorensen, head coach of the women's team. "It was the same course that will host the NCAA Championships this season and our squad competed against many of the best teams in the country with resilience and determination to come out near the top. They want to prove themselves and they are heading in the right direction.

"Our depth improved significantly from just three weeks ago and we had major improvements, which is exciting to see heading into the championship portion of our season."

Madison: At the University of Wisconsin's Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course, the Tar Heels were 18^th in a crowded field. After Wolfe in 24^th, Jack Aho was 76 and John Tatter was 86^th in the field of 227.

"Today was another really important step in our growth as a program," said Chris Miltenberg, UNC's Director of Track & Field/Cross Country. "Even though the results are not exactly what we hoped for, experiencing running in a field this strong and deep was the next key step for our young guys. We did not quite get out hard enough the first mile and our guys were buried early on. They did a good of continuing to fight the whole way and I know this will make us better in two weeks at ACC's.

"If we are going to be an NCAA caliber team in the next two years and a NCAA podium team in the next five years, this was another key part of our development. The results will come."

Kernersville, N.C.: A small group of three runners represented Carolina in the men's 8K, with Tommy Gaffey the top finisher. He placed 26^th overall in the field of 93 at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports complex.

UNC results, Oct. 15
FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals
Tallahassee, Fla.
15. Paige Hofstad, 20:12.4
39. Brynn Brown, 20:33.5
41. Sasha Neglia, 20:35.6
44. Carlee Hansen, 20:37.3
45. Natalie Tyner, 20:38.3
72. Sydney Masciarelli, 20:54.8
73. Kelsey Harrington, 20:55.6
89. Ava Dobson, 21:05.6

Nuttycombe Invitational
Madison, Wis.
Full Results
24. Parker Wolfe, 23:49.2
76. Jack Aho, 24:18.2
86. John Tatter, 24:24.9
126. Will Coogan, 24:41.1
133. Marshall Williamson, 24:43.3
154. Ethan Strand, 24:58.9
219. Patrick Anderson, 26:07.6
221. Jesse Hunt, 26:08.1
B Race
17. Michael Spragley, 25:04.5
41. Crawford Hope, 25:39.6

High Point VertCross Invitational
Kernersville, N.C.
26. Tommy Gaffey, 26:38.4
41. Andrew Lauer, 27:24.7
63. Jason Thomson, 28:36.1