The North Carolina men’s and women’s cross country teams opened up the season with second place finishes at the Elon Opener on Saturday.
What happened?
In the men’s six-kilometer race the Tar Heels finished impressively, with all but two runners finishing within the top-20 finishers. Redshirt sophomore Mitch Resor finished fifth place with a time of 18:30, while his teammates Logan Carroll, Brandon Tubby and Alex Milligan followed at seventh, eighth and ninth place, respectively. Carroll finished at 18:45, Tubby came in at 18:53, and Milligan came right behind at 18:56.
To round out the top 20, Matt Thornton finished 12th at 19:06, Mark Myers finished 13th at 19:18 and Luke Peterson finished 18th at 19:28. Brodie Modini also finished 21st, while Carl Geiger finished 28th.
In the four-kilometer race, the women’s team also placed highly, with runners finishing 5th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 23rd, 24th, and 27th.
Mady Clahane was the first North Carolina runner to cross the finish line with her time of 14:47. She was followed by Erin Edmundson at 14:52, Casey Greenwalt at 14:53, Blair Ramsey at 14:55, Lindsey Lanier at 15:19, Emma Astrike-Davis at 15:22, and Ashley Smith at 15:31.
Who stood out?
Redshirt sophomore Mitch Resor and returning All-ACC redshirt junior Logan Carroll set the pace for the men’s team. Both runners' top ten finishes led the way for the Tar Heels and secured the second place finish.
On the women’s team, sophomore Mady Clahane also stood out with her fifth place finish, which ended up being a difference maker. Her strong finish proved to be the deciding factor against the team falling back into third place, as High Point finished just two points behind in the team scores.