After wins in both the ACC Championships and the NCAA Southeast Regionals, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams failed to make the top 10 in the NCAA Championships on Monday in Terre Haute, Ind.
The No. 3-ranked women finished 19th with senior Julia Lucas, who finished in fifth place with a 20:47.1 time in the 6K race, placing as the top runner for N.C. State.
Freshman Bona Jones, along with Lucas, finished on the All-American team. Jones, who took 26th place with a 21:17 time, was only the 10th freshman for the Wolfpack to ever finish as an All-American.
However, sophomore Brittany Tinsley, who was a member of the All-ACC team and finished in ninth place during that race, got sick and didn’t finish as one of the top runners for State.
Sophomore Amy Kelly took third for the Pack — finishing in 131st place with a 22:23.2 time. Next was junior Angelina Blackmon, who finished 16 seconds further behind in 167th place. The last runner to count toward State’s score was junior Ann Wheatley, who finished with a 23:09.9 time and in 205th place.
Coach Rollie Geiger and associate coach Laurie Henes did not return calls after Monday’s meet.
The men’s team, ranked No. 7 in the nation, fared slightly better than the women in its race. While not one member finished as an All-American, the top-finishing performer finished 94th overall, and the fifth and final scorer took 167th place.
Junior Tibor Vegh finished with a 32:33.3 time and took 94th place. Following up were juniors Stephen Furst and John Crews, who took 110th place and 114th place, respectively.
The last two scorers for the Pack were sophomore Gavin Coombs and senior Bryce Ruiz. Ruiz, who was the only senior on the squad, took 167th place overall in the last race of his college career.