The NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams lived up to their national rankings with strong performances at the Adidas XC Challenge at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary Friday night.
The women’s team, ranked No. 6 nationally and No.1 in the ACC, won the women’s 5K in commanding fashion by having the top three finishers and scoring 20 total points. Fellow ACC rival Duke was the next closest team with 60 points.
Sophomore Bethlehem Taye won the women’s individual title with a time of 17:00.0, her best-ever college 5K time. Finishing less than a second behind her teammate, sophomore Elly Henes also set a personal record finishing in second at 17:00.8. Redshirt freshman Dominique Clairmonte had an impressive debut for the Wolfpack coming in third place with a time of 17:02.2.
“I wasn’t worried about time, just coming out here and enjoying racing again,” Clairmonte said in an interview with NC State Athletics.
The men’s team, ranked at No. 29 nationally and No.3 in the ACC, also had success in the 6K race as the team came in second place with a score of 36. Michigan won the event with 22 points and Wake Forest and East Carolina tied for third with 126.
The Wolfpack’s top finisher was junior Elijah Moskowitz who came in fourth with a 6K time of 18:17.5. Right behind Moskowitz, redshirt sophomore Tanis Baldwin placed fifth at 18:21.5. Junior Phillip Hall placed second overall in the race with a time of 18:13.9 but scored no points as he ran unattached. Michigan senior Ben Flanagan won the event with an 18:12.1.
“We’ve made it our focus to stay together as a pack this year,” Baldwin said to NC State Athletics. “I think looking forward, we are in a great position.”
A total of nine members of the Wolfpack set personal records in these races. That included three from the women’s race, and six from the men’s race. There were six in the top 20 for the women and seven for the men.
The Wolfpack will look for continued success at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational Sept. 29 in South Bend, Indiana.
