Carolina Teams Both Top 20 At NCAA Cross Country Championships

Saturday, November 20

Tallahassee, Fla.

10:20 AM

North Carolina

NCAA Championships

Freshman Parker Wolfe placed 28th at the NCAA Men's Cross Country Championship

Photo by: NCAA Photos

Carolina Teams Both Top 20 At NCAA Cross Country Championships

November 20, 2021 | Cross Country

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Competing at the NCAA Championships together for the first time since 2014, the UNC men's and women's cross country teams both placed in the top 18 on Saturday in racing at Apalachee Regional Park. The women's team placed 14^th overall for the second year in a row and the men's team placed 18^th.

In both cases the top Tar Heel finishers were freshmen, Parker Wolfe on the men's side and Brynn Brown on the women's side. Wolfe placed 28^th in the men's 10K race, good for All-America honors with a time of 29:25.7. Brown was 65^th in the women's 6K race, finishing in 20:15.0.

Up first Saturday morning, the Carolina women placed 14^th with 405 points, just a point out of 13^th. Kelsey Harrington was just after Brown, in 67^th in a time of 20:16.2. Sasha Neglia placed 113 in 20:34.7, Carlee Hansen 122^nd in 20:37.8, Natalie Tyner 134^th in 20:43.8, Ava Dobson 152^nd in 20:48.7, and Paige Hofstad 165^th in 20:53.6.

The NC State women won the title with 84 points and UNC was the third overall among ACC teams.

"We battled with the best teams in the country over the second half of the race and can only be proud of where we finished," said Dylan Sorensen, head coach of the Carolina women's team. "The road ahead is particularly exciting as we raced six freshmen today, something no other team in the field did.

"There were only three teams ahead of us with a better seventh runner – that is a wonderful testament to our team's depth. They are competing for something much bigger than themselves."

In the men's race, UNC's first team appearance in the field since 2014, the Tar Heels finished with 460 points for 18^th place, third-highest among conference teams. Northern Arizona took the championship with a final score of 92 points.

After Wolfe in the lead for Carolina, Jack Aho was 89^th in 30:05.9, and Patrick Anderson was 108^th in 30:13.5. Will Coogan, who was announced after the race as the winner of the NCAA Elite 90 Award for men's cross country, placed 155^th in 30:38.2, Jesse Hunt was 163^rd in 30:41.9, Marshall Williamson 190^th in 31:03.9 and Ethan Strand 203^rd in 31:12.6.

"Our men came in ranked 31st out 31 teams in the meet," said Chris Miltenberg, UNC's Director of Track & Field/Cross Country and the head coach of the men's cross country team. "We ran four freshmen and this was the first ever NCAA Championship for six out of our seven guys in the meet. They ran so tough over the second half of the race and just kept fighting to finish 18th. Our goal was to be top 25 and set the stage for the future, so this was a really exciting step forward and I'm so fired up about the trajectory we are on.

"Today was another huge step forward for our entire program."

2021 NCAA Cross Country Championships
Nov. 20 in Tallahassee, Fla.
UNC in the Women's 6K
65. Brynn Brown, 20:15.0
67. Kelsey Harrington 20:16.2
113. Sasha Neglia 20:34.7
122. Carlee Hansen 20:37.8
134. Natalie Tyner 20:43.8
152. Ava Dobson 20:48.7
165. Paige Hofstad 20:53.6
Team: 14^th (405 points)

UNC in the Men's 10K
28. Parker Wolfe, 29:25.7
89. Jack Aho, 30:05.9
108. Patrick Anderson, 30:13.5
155. Will Coogan, 30:38.2
163. Jesse Hunt, 30:41.9
190. Marshall Williamson, 31:03.9
203. Ethan Strand, 31:12.6
Team: 18^th (460 points)