The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Friday, March 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Men's and women's cross country both open season with runner-up finishes at Elon

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.

When was it decided?

For both teams, the meet was decided by just a few competing runners who finished ahead of North Carolina's athletes. In the men’s race, the team finished runner up only to Campbell, who was able to get ahead in the standards after they swept the top four positions in the race. The men’s team finished with a team score of 44, but posted a sizeable lead over third place Elon, who finished with 94 points.

On the women’s side, the team fell behind top finisher Elon due to four runners that finished in the top ten for the Phoenix compared to UNC’s two top ten finishers. The home team had a healthy lead over the Tar Heels with a 40-62 team score, while High Point came in third with a score of 64.

Why does it matter?

The teams' showed potential for strong seasons, but certainly have a lot of improvement to make before competing in full Division I meets. Several young runners performed well this weekend, and although the competition featured mostly local North Carolina schools, the Tar Heels set themselves up to carry momentum into the rest of the season.

Where do they run next?

The Tar Heels will run again on Sep. 16 at the Mountains to Sea Open in Boone, N.C. 

@_JACKF54_

sports@dailytarheel.com

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.