The Virginia men's cross country team finished 12th at the NCAA Championships, putting an exclamation point at the end of what was already a successful season. The Cavaliers were the top ACC finisher at the meet and came within a hair's breadth of finishing in the top 10.
"We had a good day," head coach Jason Dunn said, "We were hoping to finish in the top 10, but it's a good step in the right direction for our program. I'm not going to use the word disappointment, but we did think we could have done better."
The Wahoos' top finisher was senior Jan Foerster, earning All-American honors with a time of 30:37.1, good for a 42nd-place finish overall. Freshman Emil Heineking closed out a stellar first year finishing with a time of 30:43.6, good for fourth among freshman and a mere half of a second away from making all-American.
"Emil ran really well, missing All-American honors by a half-second," Dunn said. "A half-second is really close in a sport in which competitors are usually separated by 15 seconds or more."
Senior Ryan Foster was the third Cavalier to cross the line, finishing 72nd overall with a time of 30:56.4. Foster commented that the conditions of the race were especially good. The course was running very fast, meaning that the grass was dry and there was no mud or any other natural obstacles that can affect the outcome of a race.
Senior Emily Harrison represented the Cavaliers well at the championships, kicking in at the last 200 meters to finish sixth overall in the women's race. Harrison's finish tied Virginia's best individual performance since 1982, when a Cavalier women's runner won the race.
"In order to understand just how great Emily's performance was, you have to examine the five people who managed to beat her," Dunn said. "The first- and second-place finishers have already run at an international level, and the fourth-place finisher, Diane Nukuri, has already competed in the Olympics."
The men's team had a strong year, running mostly mistake-free races and attaining most of its goals for the season. The team will lose the talent of Foerster and Taylor Smith to graduation this year, but everyone else, including junior Andy Biladeau, Heineking and junior Kevin Tschirhart will be back next season. Foster hopes to be back; he is applying for another year of eligibility from the NCAA because injury problems prevented him from racing for all four years of his college career. Many think that the team has a chance to be even stronger next year.
"I was on the team that last won the ACC title two years ago," Foster said. "And I think we were better than that team. We have really high hopes going into next year."
The women's team had a tough season, having to overcome injuries to many of their key runners. With everyone back at full strength next year, Dunn expects that the team will return to Nationals. Despite losing Harrison to graduation, the team will return many talented runners, including sophomores Stephanie Garcia and Samantha Stafford as well as juniors Katie Readand Sara Casscells. Backed by a solid recruiting class, the team will be much stronger next year.
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