NC State cross country dominated at the 2023 ACC Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday, Oct. 27. The women’s squad notched its eighth consecutive championship win and made it look easy, finishing 43 points ahead of the second-place team. On the men’s side, the red-and-white tallied 207 points to claim eighth place. 

Entering the meet, all signs pointed towards another ring for the red-and-white women. With 29 ACC women’s cross country titles, the Wolfpack has the most team-titles for any individual women’s sport. However, the ACC title is just a step towards the Pack’s season goal — a third-straight national championship.

With the extreme success of previous Wolfpack teams, expectations were high for the red-and-white entering the 6k race. The Pack finished with 37 points, well ahead of the rest of the field as the second-place team, Notre Dame, finished with 80. The red-and-white closed with an average time of 19:54.20, the only average below 20 minutes. 

The Wolfpack dominated the top of the standings with two of the top three finishers. Senior Katelyn Tuohy paced the field with an impressive time of 19:22.8 to secure her second individual ACC title. Behind Tuohy, senior Kelsey Chmiel placed third with a time of 19:36.5 — good enough for All-ACC honors. 

While the seasoned veterans finished at the top, the Pack appears to be in good hands in the future, as two freshmen placed in the top 20. Freshman Leah Stephens clocked in at 20:01.4 for an eighth place finish, while freshman Grace Hartman recorded a time of 20:21.4 to earn 19th place. 

Other high finishers for the Wolfpack included senior Gionna Quarzo and sophomore Hannah Gapes. Quarzo finished in 14th place with a time of 20:19.6, while Gapes earned 26th place with a 20:35.2 time.

While the women’s team shined on its way to an ACC title, the men’s team only finished eighth in the 8k championship. The Pack posted a 24:10.54 team average, just one second behind Duke. 

Senior Zach Hughes was the red-and-white’s top finisher, finishing the race with a time of 23.58.7. This was good enough to finish 28th overall. Behind Hughes, Graduate Toby Gualter finished 39th at 24:09.6 as the Wolfpack’s next best runner. 

Next up, the Pack will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina to compete in the NCAA Southeast Regionals on Friday, Nov. 10.