Cross country qualifies for national meet

For senior Isaac Presson, the NCAA Cross Country Southeast Regional could not have come at a worse time.

Recovering from a head cold and fever, it was safe to say that Presson was not feeling his best.

But that was not evident from his performance in the meet, as he earned All-Region honors and a bit of praise from coach Mark VanAlstyne.

“I was proud of his performance,” VanAlstyne said. “(He) pulled it together on a week that he wasn’t feeling his best and ended up getting All-Region. So I thought that was pretty amazing.”

Presson was one of five Tar Heels that made All-Region Friday in Earlysville, Va., where the men’s team placed fourth and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. The men’s team has not qualified for nationals since 1991, when they came in last place.

For the women’s team, junior Annie LeHardy finished seventh overall, in a field of 265 runners in the 6k.

LeHardy will also be at nationals, as the only representative for the UNC women, who have now qualified for four consecutive years.

While LeHardy has earned All-American status in her sights, she earned All-Region Friday, along with junior Lizzy Whelan (19th). The men’s team got top-25 finishes from junior Ryan Walling (8th), Presson (24th) and fellow senior John Raneri (14th).

LeHardy and Walling, the top finishers for their respective teams, did not surprise VanAlstyne.

“You really can’t say any more about the kind of season she’s had, other than it’s just been outstanding,” he said of LeHardy.

“(Walling is) just Mr. Consistency right now when it comes to cross-country.”

Walling said he was disappointed with how the team performed overall, but is confident that they will come back with a strong performance in nationals next weekend.

“It was definitely an off day as a whole,” he said. “We didn’t run to our potential, based on how we have been this season … we got to nationals and that’s all that we can ask for for today.”

VanAlstyne, however, was much happier with the day, citing the overall success of both teams. Only one runner for either team finished outside of the top hundred overall, out of 239 men and 265 women.

“It’s a testament to the kind of student-athletes the University of North Carolina attracts,” VanAlstyne said. “They want to succeed in everything they do and I think those finishes are indicative of that.”

sports@dailytarheel.com