The Virginia men's and women's cross country teams will kick off their postseasons this weekend at the ACC Championships in Chestnut Hill, Mass.
The No. 19 men's team will look to produce a solid all-around team performance after capturing the top two individual spots last year but finished second overall after N.C. State. In the race, seniors Emil Heineking and Ryan Collins were first to cross the finish line. The team has won the ACC title three times during the past five years but trail N.C. State and Duke, which are ranked No. 14 and No. 16 respectively, in the national standings.
"We can't just have the guys in the front finishing well," Collins said. "We'll need to have support from three, four, five and even six and seven to bring back the title."
Meanwhile, the women's team has not won an ACC championship since 1982. In recent years, however, the squad has consistently finished near the top of the pack. The women's team has struggled to produce consistent results from all its racers, however. At last year's ACC championship race, both of the team's top two runners finished in the top five overall, but its third and fourth runners finished 17th and 18th, and its fifth runner dropped down to 47th. The Cavaliers took third in the meet, behind Florida State and Duke, whose racers placed no worse than 23rd.
"In the past we've not had a strong No. 5, or sometimes even No. 4," senior Stephanie Garcia said. "But we have the potential this year to have a really good group of those top five called, and it's going to depend on the last couple girls to really step up and cross the line strong."
In the weeks leading up to this race, cross country coach Jason Vigilante has preached the importance of team racing.
"More than anything," Vigilante said, "if they can individually contribute to the team as a whole, if everybody is running for the team, if they are running as hard as they can, it will be a good day, no doubt about it."
The Cavaliers will run in the Cavalier Invitational at Panorama Farms Nov. 5 before racing in the NCAA Southeast Regionals and NCAA Championships later in the month.
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