Men's cross country places first in Virginia

Despite competing on a tough course and against two ranked opponents, senior John Raneri knew the North Carolina men’s cross country team could rise to the occasion.

“Everybody seemed to be in good spirits, and everybody seemed ready to roll as well,” Raneri said. “If there was any adversity, we completely ignored it.”

Raneri helped the men’s cross country team grab a first place finish by running a personal best 23 minutes 53.6 seconds in the 8K and finished fourth individually at the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational in Earlysville, Va.. Senior Pat Schellberg, freshman Joe Sansone and junior Ryan Walling finished 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively.

“I was confident, but I was cautious also,” Raneri said. “I knew that if I made a mistake during the race it would really hurt my outcome, but I knew that I could compete with the best.”

Coach Mark VanAlstyne applauded the men’s team effort and said its persistence was the difference in the race.

“We really wanted to discover how prepared we are to hurt out on the course,” VanAlstyne said. “I thought the guys did a phenomenal job of staying after it today once the pain set in. You could see where everyone started to hurt, and our guys stayed strong.”

Senior Isaac Presson said before the race that the men’s team was in a position that hasn’t been seen during his four years at UNC.

“We’ve never ran as well as we have been in practice, and I think that kind of showed today at the meet and kind of surprised a lot of guys,” Presson said. “All the hard work this summer paid off and it’s finally coming together for us.”

Among the other teams in the men’s meet were No. 11 Eastern Kentucky and fellow ACC opponents, No. 16 Virginia, Duke and Virginia Tech .

The women’s team, still with key runners injured, finished ninth, led by junior Annie LeHardy who finished eighth and junior Lizzy Whelan who finished 16th.

Whelan said her attitude going into the race was to remain focused when the pain set in.

“I know that because I’m a messy runner that I often lose it mentally, so my mindset through the whole race was to just stay awake,” Whelan said. “I know that if I stay awake, I’m capable of being up there.”

VanAlstyne said he expects to add the injured runners back into the lineup over the next few weeks and expects the women’s team to progress back to competitiveness.

Among the other teams in the women’s meet were No. 15 William and Mary and ACC foes Virginia, Duke and Virginia Tech.

The course will also host the NCAA Southeast Regional on Nov. 15, which helped the teams gain valuable experience, according to VanAlstyne.

“I don’t think you can underestimate how important it is for a team to have experience on the course, but also a positive experience,” VanAlstyne said. “To come here, run hard, and win, I think that’s going to help us a great deal”.