WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Just less than halfway through the men's ACC Championship cross country meet, Virginia looked great.
Senior Walt Kingsbery and freshman Alex Tatu were both in the race's top-five, and the team's top runner, junior Will Christian, was sitting back off the race's top pack, comfortably biding his time and readying to make his move.
"They look good," coach Jason Dunn said as he ran by a group of spectators.
But then the wheels started coming off.
Tatu -- who normally runs sixth for the team -- dropped out of the race at the halfway mark. Kingsbery faded from the top group, finishing 19th. And by the third mile (fifth kilometer), NC State's pack had taken control of the race.
The Wolfpack finished with five runners in the top-10, easily outdistancing second place Florida State, 27-66. After starting so promisingly, Virginia slipped to third, finishing with 83 points.
"I was expecting to be in the top-two," Dunn said. "It's not a bad finish. FSU isn't a bad team, but I really wanted to be in the top-two."
Christian, however, did make his move. As he does in all his races, the former Maryland high school state champ surged in the middle of the race and positioned himself among the top-four. He eventually finished third, eight seconds behind first place finisher Andy Smith of NC State.
"It's a fine line between first and third," Christian said. "I know I can beat him. I beat him at Great American. He just made a good move late."
With his third-place finish, Christian garnered All-Conference honors, capping a conference season in which he twice was named runner of the week.
As a whole, the men placed only slightly behind where they expected. Hoping to finish with five runners in the top-15, the team instead put five among the top-25.
"I'm not happy with the race," Dunn said. "I'm not contented. But at the same time, I'm not overly disappointed."
The same could not be said for the women's team. The harriers finished sixth and never really competed with conference heavyweights North Carolina and NC State for the title. The women from UNC slipped past NC State, 40-44. Virginia finished with 142 points.
The women might have been doomed before the gun ever went off. Last season, the Cavaliers finished third in the conference and 20th at nationals, but of the seven runners who competed in those races, only one, senior Jane Maxwell, ran in Saturday's meet.
The others were lost for various reasons, among them injury, graduation and transfer. The latest casualty: senior Meg McGarvey, the team's most experienced runner.
"To be honest, this has been a trying year for us," Dunn said. "Our number one runner [sophomore Kara Scanlin] has been injured. We've just had some back luck."
For her eighth place finish, Maxwell received All-ACC honors, which she also accomplished last season after finishing 10th.
"For her to move up in a conference that's better than it was last year, I was thrilled for her," Dunn said. "She has an excellent chance to make it to nationals if the team doesn't make it."
While the women's chances of going to nationals are slim-to-none, the men are firmly on the bubble in their quest to become the first men's team in nearly 20 years to qualify. How the squad performs at regionals in two weeks will determine whether the men see their bubble burst or live to run another week.
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