The NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams continued their stellar seasons as they competed at the ACC Championships in Cary, North Carolina Friday. The women’s team was crowned ACC champions, while the men’s team placed third.

Nine Wolfpack runners attained All-ACC honors between the men and women for placing within the top 21 individually. Additionally, the women’s title marks the 38th ACC title won by the Wolfpack cross country program, and the 22nd by the women’s team.

On the women’s side, redshirt sophomore Rachel Koon led the team with a fourth place finish. The Asheville, North Carolina native improved three places from her seventh place result last season. Redshirt junior Wesley Frazier followed just behind Koon, placing 10th in her season debut.

The trio of redshirt junior Alyssa Rudawsky, freshman Elly Henes and sophomore Ryen Frazier rounded out Wolfpack scoring, finishing in 12th, 13th and 14th place, respectively. Despite a slight shake up in terms of individual placing within the team, the Pack still got the job done.

“I’m just really proud of this team for pulling together,” Koon said. “A lot of our individuals didn’t finish where they usually do on the team. But the fact that we’re able to win overall and be ACC Champions really shows the depth that we have. I’m honored to have been a leader for the team today.”

NC State utilized pack running to its advantage, as the members fed off each other’s energy. Several young runners successfully rose to the occasion as well.

“The girls definitely stepped up today and we packed up pretty well throughout the whole race,” Henes said. “[We made] sure that we ran for each other, the team, and the title.”

Additionally, home course advantage proved to be beneficial for the Pack.

“I think having it on our home course is definitely an advantage because we had so many alumni out here,” Koon said. “A lot of our parents were able to come. It was great Wolfpack support today, but just because of that advantage doesn’t mean we aren’t a great team. I think we would’ve won had it been on another course too; not to be cocky.”

Despite acquiring an ACC Championship, the women’s championship season is only beginning. As the Pack approaches NCAA Regionals and Nationals, it looks to garner even more accolades.

“Definitely as a team, we want to be on that podium at Nationals,” Koon said. “For regionals, finishing in the top two and getting an automatic bid to nationals. I think we’ve got the depth and power in the team to do that.”

After a fifth place finish at NCAA’s last season, the women’s team looks forward to even greater success.

On the men’s side, the Pack was led by a breakout third-place performance by redshirt senior Sam Parsons. The duo of redshirt sophomore Patrick Sheehan and redshirt freshman Ben Barrett were the next two Pack runners behind the Delaware native, finishing 15th and 18th, respectively.

Meanwhile, sophomore Philip Hall finished 22nd and redshirt junior Bakri Abushouk finished 24th to close out team scoring for the Wolfpack. Despite a few key runners out due to illness, many young runners stepped up to fill that void.

“There was a lot of love out there on the course today,” Parsons said. “A ton of alumni and we just raced our hearts out. We had two guys that came down with viruses two days out from the race and didn’t race today. We really showed heart and our younger guys stepped up.”

As a result, the men’s side finished third behind No. 6 ranked Syracuse and No. 16 ranked Virginia. With the win, the Orange won its fourth consecutive ACC title. In addition to running with heart, the Pack utilized home course advantage to further propel its performance.

“It was a lot of fun to represent NC State on our home course,” Parsons said. “We have over 80 alumni here today. So it just shows the Wolfpack family is true to its form.”

Up next, the Pack looks to achieve further success at both the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Nationals.

“Regionals, we want to get to NCAA’s as easy as possible; Running as relaxed as possible at regionals but that means winning,” the Tatnall High School alum said.  “It’s going to be on a hilly course in Virginia and we plan on going there and winning that race.[Then we want to go to] NCAA Nationals and find our way through the seedings.”

Up next, both teams will tune up at home in the Three Stripes Invite on Nov. 5 before heading off to the NCAA Southeast Regionals in search for NCAA nationals bids.

With much momentum from the ACC Championship meet, more success is sure to be in store for the Wolfpack men’s and women’s cross country teams.