Wolfe Leads Cross Country To ACC Men's Championship

Friday, October 27

Tallahassee, Fla.

8:30 AM

North Carolina

ACC Championships

October 27, 2023 | Cross Country

Men's Results (PDF)Women's Results (PDF)

By: UNC Athletics Communications

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The UNC men's cross country team won its first ACC Championship since 1985 on Friday at Apalachee Regional Park led by a foursome of top-10 finishers.

The Tar Heels (49) finished 16 points ahead of second-place Syracuse (65).

"This was a huge step forward for our entire program," Tar Heels head coach Chris Miltenberg said. "It was a total team effort for our guys across the board today. It's most exciting to see our guys writing an entire new chapter in the history of our program. The ACC is without a doubt the best conference in the country so this is a great test heading into the NCAAs."

Junior Parker Wolfe won the men's individual title, becoming the first Tar Heel since 1997 to win the race. He finished with a time of 23:03.01, more than five seconds in front of runner-up Paul O'Donnell of Syracuse.

"All that was going through my mind was pump the arms, pump the legs and everything else will take care of itself," Wolfe said. "The goal from the beginning was work together and without [my teammates] it would've been a lot tougher of a race.

"It makes a huge difference knowing that even if I'm not having the best day, they are going to back me up for that team title."

Graduate transfer Alex Phillip came in fourth place with a time of 23:14.2, junior Ethan Strand finished sixth in 23:20.4 and Indiana transfer Jake Gebhardt placed ninth with a time of 23:26.6 to earn all-conference accolades.

Sophomore Colton Sands finished 29th overall and Gitch Hayes placed 35th.

Wolfe became the 15th individual ACC men's cross country champion in school history, and the Tar Heels claimed their 10th overall men's title.

Junior Fatima Alanis led the women's team (172) to a fifth place finish, five points shy of fourth. She earned All-ACC honors by finishing 12th with a time of 20:16.9.

Eva Klingbeil (39th), Kelsey Harrington (40th), Brynn Brown (43rd) and Page Lester (50th) all finished inside the top-50 in the field of 140 runners.

The Tar Heels will return to competition at the Hokie Open on Nov. 3 in Blacksburg, Va.

Team scoring was as follows:

MEN
1. North Carolina - 49
2. Syracuse - 65
3. Virginia - 77
4. Notre Dame - 86
5. Florida State - 117
6. Wake Forest -131
7. Duke -205
8. NC State - 207
9. Pittsburgh - 277
10. Georgia Tech - 280
11. Virginia Tech - 312
12. Clemson - 332
13. Boston College - 394
14. Louisville - 429
15. Miami - 470

WOMEN
1. NC State - 37
2. Notre Dame - 80
3. Virginia - 82
4. Syracuse - 167
5. North Carolina - 172
6. Boston College - 183
7. Duke -186
8. Wake Forest - 200
9. Georgia Tech - 264
10. Virginia Tech - 267
11. Florida State - 275
12. Pittsburgh - 330
13. Louisville - 333
14. Clemson - 339
15. Miami - 412

Finish Lines
- The top 21 individual finishers in each race (men's and women's) were honored as All-ACC.
- The NC State women's cross country team claimed its eighth consecutive ACC championship and the Wolfpack's Katelyn Tuohy repeated as ACC women's individual champion,
- The first true freshman finisher in each race was designated the ACC Men's and Women's Freshman of the Year. Wake Forest's Charlie Sprott took honors on the men's side and Clemson's Gladys Chepngetich was the top women's freshman finisher.

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