Hokie ClubKERNERSVILLE, N.C. – Junior Thomas Curtin finished second in the ACC Cross Country Championships leading the Virginia Tech men’s cross country team to a fifth place finish overall, while juniors Courtney Dobbs and Sarah Rapp both set personal bests in the 6K distance finishing in 11th and 13th places respectively en route to an 8th place team finish.
“Thomas was great. That’s only his second race of the year, so he’s on track to do some great things for us here at the end of the season. He’ll only get stronger through regionals and hopefully get to nationals,” said cross country coach Ben Thomas. “Courtney Dobbs and Sarah Rapp really went after it today and competed. You definitely like to see that.”
In the 8K men’s race, junior Thomas Curtin finished second overall with a time of 24:02.20 just behind NC State’s Andrew Colley. Senior Leoule Degfae finished next for the Hokies with a time of 24:42.20 good for a 23rd place finish overall.
Junior Jared Berman was next for Tech with a time of 24:51.20, while freshman Stuart Robinson and senior Grant Pollock finished 32nd and 33rd respectively.
Freshman Patrick Joseph finished in 51st place overall, while sophomore George Carter finished 75th overall to round out the Virginia Tech scoring.
“I thought the men fought a good fight,” said Thomas. “They raced hard. We needed a perfect day in order to win and we didn’t quite get there, but we competed well. We put ourselves out there. A lot of guys had their best race of the season. Hopefully we can build on it two weeks from now, go to regionals and have a quality finish. We beat some great teams today.”
In the women’s 6K race, junior Courtney Dobbs led all Tech runners with an 11th place finish and a time of 20:49.90. Junior Sarah Rapp was not far behind with a 13th place finish and a time of 20:51.60.
Freshman Shannon Morton was the next runner for the Hokies to cross the line with a 54th place finish and a time of 21:55.00 while junior Madalyn Nuckols and sophomore Katarina Smiljanec were not far behind with 59th and 62nd place finished respectively.
Sophomore Ashley Hayes and junior Paige Kvartunas rounded out the Tech scoring with 72nd and 75th place finishes respectively.
“The women competed well. We had a lot of girls who were at their first ACC Cross Country Championships. It’ll be a good experience for them going forward,” said Thomas.
Thomas Curtin, Courtney Dobbs and Sarah Rapp all received All-ACC honors. The Hokies continue racing next Friday at the Hokie Open held at the Tech Cross Country Course.