Women's cross country aims to get back on track

The North Carolina women's cross country team has a history of pulling off great late-season success. With two weeks off until the ACC Championships they are preparing to renew that tradition.

Despite a dominant first-place overall run from senior Brie Felnagle and an impressive 15th-place finish from junior Lauren Holesh in Saturday's pre-nationals competition" the Tar Heels could not pull out a better overall team finish than 20th.

But coach Michael Whittlesey is not worried.

""Our one and two runners have been great for us" and the three four and five spots just thought they were a little further along than they were he said.

This team has been plagued by numerous injuries and as soon as we get everybody back our five six and seven spots will be solidified" and that will help a lot.""

One of the problems Whittlesey enumerated on was that of match-ups. The 41-member field at the pre-national meet was too large to concentrate on runner match-ups" especially for the fourth to seventh runners.

At the ACC Championships he said" better knowledge of the competition will aid the Tar Heels.

""To be able to know exactly who you are racing is a huge advantage"" because you can plan the race accordingly and have a better strategy going in.""

The key for the next two weeks will be to keep the main runners healthy. When at full strength" the women figure to compete for the top spot in the conference.

Felnagle is one of the top runners in the country and Holesh is always in the mix.

But those two will not be able to carry the team alone. They will need help from freshman Ashley Verplank senior Morgan Stengel and sophomore Courtlin LaReau who had UNC's third- fourth- and fifth-best finishes respectively.

Whittlesey figures to encounter stiff competition from Florida State" who is ranked No. 3 nationally and features another top runner in Susan Kuijken.

""There is going to be a tight competition for second between us" Duke and Wake Forest" Whittlesey said. We thought we could have done better at the pre-nationals.

""We are definitely looking to get back on track here at the ACC Championships.""



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