Senior All-American Emil Heineking crossed the finish line at Panorama Farms this weekend in a very familiar manner - one finger raised to the sky, letting everyone know that he had captured the individual title on the Cavaliers' home course for the second year. Unfortunately for the No. 17 men's cross country team, however, Heineking's individual performance was not enough to earn the team title. It finished runner-up to No. 9 Duke, 31-40.
Heineking finished with a time of 23 minutes, 47 seconds, and was far enough ahead of the pack that he cruised to the finish, swiveling his head back constantly to make sure his second consecutive title on the Panorama Farms course was secure. His finish, however, was nearly 30 seconds behind his personal best at Panorama Farms, also the course record.
"I'm very proud of Emil," coach Jason Vigilante said. "He's learning how to be patient - a year ago he was all go, all throttle, 100 percent. Today, though, was a very controlled effort for him, and he's still training really hard. And again, I think he's done an outstanding job."
Despite the team's overall loss, it also showcased its impressive depth in the race, as they had 11 runners finish in the top 30, including seven in the top 20. Coming in behind Heineking was senior Ryan Collins who finished third overall with a time of 24:03 and junior Sean Keveren, who placed ninth with 24:22.
Rounding out Virginia's scoring five were senior Robbie Eckardt and junior Andrew Revelle, who finished 11th and 16th, respectively. The team's extensive roster depth has created a competitive spirit among the teammates, as they know that with so many good runners competing, nobody's spot is entirely safe.
"When you look at our team, a number of different guys have scored for us," Vigilante said. "We have a number of interchangeable parts, and our depth couldn't be better ... It creates a certain accountability within the group. If you keep your easy days easy and your hard days hard, and you stay focused, you may turn out to be all right. But if you fail to do those things you may not make the team here. The motivation right now has never been better."
The 20th-ranked women's team, which was competing without a couple of its top runners, also finished second overall, placing behind No. 4 Texas Tech by a score of 20-55. The Lady Raiders showed why they are one of the best teams in the country as junior Rose Tanui blazed through the 6K course in 20:21.87, good for the individual title, and was followed just four seconds later by teammate junior Caroline Jepleting. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, were led by sophomore Barbara Strehler who came in sixth overall with a time of 20:52. Finishing right behind Strehler was senior Stephanie Garcia who crossed the finish line with a time of 20:57.15, good for a seventh-place finish.
"I would say team did pretty well, a lot of people stepped up on the girls team," Strehler said. "It was hard since we had two girls not race - one was sick and the other was just trying to stay healthy. So it was definitely weird running without them, but everyone stepped up and ran really well today."
The Cavaliers hope that their injured runners get healthy before Oct. 30 when they head to Chestnut Hill, Mass. for the most important race of the season thus far - the ACC Championships.
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