The Virginia men's cross country team had a great day at Saturday's ACC Championships meet, outlasting N.C. State to win the meet 32-39. Junior Andy Biladeau was the Cavaliers' top finisher and second overall with a time of 24:08. In third, just two seconds behind him, was senior Ryan Foster. Emil Heineking claimed ACC Freshman of the Year honors with his fourth-place finish, running the race in 24:12. All-American senior Jan Foerster continued Virginia's assault on the top 10 of the race, turning in a 24:16 performance. Fifth-year senior Taylor Smith also contributed to the Cavaliers' success, finishing 17thoverall.
"The men won, so I'm certainly pleased with their performance," Virginia coach Jason Dunn said. "As predicted, it came down to the wire with N.C. State. Taylor Smith stepped up huge for us. Being that fifth guy can really make a difference between winning and losing a meet -- especially one as close as this."
Virginia's male freshmen runners continue to impress, proving that last year's recruiting class was a special one.
"It was really exciting to have three freshman among the top eight freshmen in the meet," sophomore Trey Miller said. "It really makes our program look good for future recruiting."
Biladeau credits the team's chemistry and excellent preparation for its ACC title.
"We trained together on this course a lot, so it felt natural, even if it was hard," Biladeau said. "Coach Dunn is a great mentor and really makes us believe we can win every time we run."
Redshirt senior Chris Kollar won the individual title for N.C. State, a breakout performance after finishing 18th at the same meet last year.
The women's team did not fare quite as well, finishing eighth in the team standings. Senior Emily Harrison turned in another spectacular performance, finishing second overall. Sophomore Stephanie Garcia continued her upward trend as well, turning in a solid time of 21:59, good for 20th overall and second among the Cavaliers. Other standout performers included sophomore and Charlottesville native Samantha Stafford, who finished 38th?, and senior Suzanne Ginnow, who finished 47th?.
"I'm exhausted -- this is a very hard course." Garcia said. "There's two hills on the course that really suck all your energy away. But I'm also exhilarated, because it's my first year running at the ACCs."
Florida State ran away with the women's meet, finishing 38 points ahead of second-place N.C. State. Florida State sophomore Susan Kuijken extended her unbeaten streak and won the meet with an impressive 20:23.
Kuijken "is a really good runner," Harrison said. "If I had to lose to somebody, I'm glad it was her."
Virginia's next challenge will be Nov. 10 at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship in Louisville, Ky. Dunn has high hopes for his team at the regionals.
"The women's team was a bit disappointing, but our goal remains the same: get to regional," Dunn said. "We finished eighth today. Last year, our conference sent eight teams to nationals, so a team in the same position as us ended up going to NCAAs. So that's something we can use as motivation heading into the next few weeks"
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