Women’s and men’s cross country teams improve from last year

The North Carolina men’s and women’s cross country teams were at Notre Dame on Friday, but they weren’t just fighting the Irish.

The Tar Heels competed in the Notre Dame Invitational, sprinting to 15th and 12th place finishes, respectively.

Coach Peter Watson, who commented on his hopes for both personal and team improvement in a pre-meet podcast, certainly had his dream come to fruition with the progress made by the Tar Heels in South Bend.

Senior Lauren Holesh was the top individual finisher for North Carolina, placing 11th in the women’s 5,000-meter with a time of 17:02.

Holesh, the only senior on the women’s roster, improved from a 15th place finish in last year’s invitational despite an injury that has kept her out since February.

“I did lots of work over the summer to prepare for this year,” Holesh said. “I ran 85 miles a week to build up to my return. It was just really awesome to see the hard work pay off.”

The improvements continued when Tar Heel Evan Watchempino, who was 51st in the Notre Dame Invitational last year, jumped to 18th place overall in the men’s 8,000-meters with a time of 24:14.

In addition to Holesh and Watchempino, Ashley Verplank, Mariana Lucena and Zack Dawson helped UNC with top-100 finishes.

Out of 23 women’s teams that participated in the invitational, 10 of them were nationally ranked in the top 30. UNC’s women’s team placed ahead of No. 27 Rice, and the men beat No. 28 Notre Dame.

“It is definitely a team effort,” Holesh said. “Last year, there was a large gap between the second and third runners. This year, the difference between the first and the fourth is a minute. We are running as a pack. As a team that’s what we aim for.”

The Tar Heels will return to Indiana on Oct. 17 to compete in the NCAA Pre-National Meet in Terre Haute.


Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.