Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech cross country runner Thomas Curtin finished 22nd at the 2015 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships held Saturday at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky.
Curtin, a redshirt senior, was the top finisher for the Hokies, running the 10k course in a time of 30 minutes, 15.1 seconds. A foot injury hampered Curtin in his bid to win his fourth straight race and first national championship, but he earned All-America honors in cross country for the first time. That comes on the heels of earning All-America honors during the indoor and outdoor track seasons this past academic year.
The Tech men’s team, which received an at-large bid to the Championships and was making the program’s sixth appearance (just the second since 1987), finished in 27th place out of 31 teams.
“It was a tough day for us,” Tech cross country coach Ben Thomas said. “Not where we wanted to be. Tommy had a foot injury, but fought through it to earn All-America honors, which is his third straight All-American performance between indoor track, outdoor track and cross country.
“We’ll get ready for the indoor track season now. I’m looking forward to seeing what this group can do in the track season ahead.”
Other Tech finishers were Stuart Robertson, who came in 144th with a time of 31:21.9, and Neil Gourley, who was 157th with a time of 31:30.6. Daniel Jaskowak and Peter Seufer came in 190th and 205th, respectively, while Brent Musselman was 218th and Darren Barlow was 239th.
Oregon’s Edward Cheserek, whom Curtin beat at the NCAA Pre-National meet in mid-October, won his third straight national championship. Syracuse, which had three runners finish in the top nine, won the team national championship.
The Tech team now will prepare for the indoor track season, which starts with the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan. 15-16 at Rector Fieldhouse on Tech’s campus.