Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. - Both the Virginia Tech men's and women's cross country teams have won three of five meets this season leading up to Saturday's Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in Charlottesville, Va., on a 100 percent grass course through rolling hills of the Panorama Farms.
This season's success coupled with proven performances in last year's postseason have the Hokies optimistic.
"We are are in a position to do well at the Championship meets ahead," head coach Ben Thomas said. "The men ran well at the William & Mary Inter-Regional and the Chile Pepper Invitational, but we will need an individual front-runner or two to emerge to make it to the NCAA Championships. We just need to stay healthy and consistent and control the things we can in our preparation."
Experience is on the 25th-ranked Hokies' side as a post-season savvy women's roster features six runners who competed in last season's ACC Championships, and helped Tech to an all-time best finish of fifth place. Four Hokies were among the top 25 in the individual standings and that type of all-around performance is necessary to improve upon that this year.
"[Tasmin Fanning and Natalie Sherbak] have been our front-runners all season," assistant coach Stacey Vidt said. "They have both been consistent and ran great races last weekend [at the Chile Pepper Invitational], so we expect solid performances out of them in Charlottesville."
Fanning placed 42nd at last season's conference championships but has stepped up this year, leading the way for the Hokies with three first place performances in the four meets in which she has ran. Fanning was the first individual to cross the finish line at the Wake Forest Relays, completing the 5k in 16:43, then repeated the feat with an 18:52 6k effort at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational before winning the William & Mary Inter-Regional with a 20:21 6k time.
Sherbak was Tech's highest finisher at last year's meet, completing the 6k in 21:55 for 16th place. The lone senior on this season's team finished fifth out of 322 runners last weekend, leading the Hokies to a third-place finish out of a 41-team field.
Sophomores Kelly Clark, Lisa MacPherson and Erin Reddan have been consistent performers after scoring points for Tech, finishing in the squad's top seven in all three of last year's postseason events. This season, the trio has combined for six top-10 finishes.
As freshmen, Clark and MacPherson contributed to the Hokies' success at last season's championships. Clark turned in Tech's second-best performance, with a time of 21:59 for 17th place overall, while MacPherson finished among the top 75.
"The women could top last year's team as our best ever," Thomas said. "Our top two are better than ever. The improvement of our 3-4-5-6 runners will be crucial to the team's efforts to win ACC's and make the NCAA Championships again."
The men scored their best-ever point total with 126 at last season's ACC Championships, taking sixth place with 145 points. The Hokies won three consecutive events to start the season, with four different runners posting the team's best performance through the first five meets of the season.
Paul LaPenna was Tech's first finisher in the individual standings of the Wake Forest Relays, with a 22:50 7k performance. LaPenna was the first men's NCAA All Southeast Region runner in three years, and just the second since 1999, after finishing 21st in last season's regional championships.
Billy Berlin, a 2007 All-ACC honoree and NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Qualifier in the 1,500m, took first place at the 8k Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational (26:47). Berlin became the first men's cross country runner in school history to be recognized as the ACC's Performer of the Week on Sept. 25, after winning the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. He finished the 8k race with a time of 26:46.74 to lead seven Hokies among the top eight finishers. The Midlothian, Va., native finished 24th last year at the ACC Championships with an 8k effort of 25:23.
"[Billy] is a middle-distance runner on our track team so he has performed exceptionally well for us this fall," Vidt said. "He worked hard all summer and has continued that during the season to improve in the 8k and 10k, and we'll need that continue at ACC's."
The reigning ACC Freshman of the Year, Devin Cornwall returns for his sophomore campaign and is the only Hokie to turn in the team's best finish multiple times. Cornwall finished 10th in the William & Mary Inter-Regional (24:52) then was 23rd at the Chile Pepper Invitational (30:57) to lead the Hokies.
The 8k men's race is set to start on Saturday at 10 a.m., and the 6k women's race follows at 11:00 a.m.