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The Daily Tar Heel

Cross country falls just short of NCAA placing

Sophomore Ashley Verplank paced the Tar Heels with her 20th-place finish at regionals.
Sophomore Ashley Verplank paced the Tar Heels with her 20th-place finish at regionals.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams raced to the finish line at Saturday’s NCAA Southeast Regional only to hold their breath — not to catch it.

Taking sixth and fifth places, respectively, North Carolina’s teams hoped to qualify for next week’s NCAA National Championships.

After an anxious day of waiting, UNC fell just short of making the championships in both the team and individual levels when at-large bids were announced Sunday.

“With the women, coming into the season, we didn’t really think we had a shot (at making Nationals),” first-year head coach Peter Watson said. “But as the season progressed, we kept moving forward to where it was a realistic goal.”

Despite just missing a coveted bid, the women’s team finished strong with three runners honored with All-Region times.

Sophomore Ashley Verplank took first for UNC and placed 20th overall, clocking in at 21:14.34 in the 6K. Senior Lauren Holesh and freshman Mariana Lucena rounded out the team’s top three finishes and placed 23rd and 24th overall, respectively.

“The girls all ran very well, but stepping up for us really was Mariana Lucena,” Watson said. “She was All-Region and finished 24th, which, as a true freshman, is a huge accomplishment.”

Holesh failed to repeat qualifying for Nationals in her final season on the team. The senior finished fourth at regionals last year and 30th in last year’s championship meet.

“Some individuals definitely ran really well, and some of us had an off day,” Verplank said.

“Lauren Holesh and I were supposed to be farther up in the race, and it was a tough day.”

Three schools from the Southeast region received at-large bids for the men’s championship. UNC was fourth.

But the men’s sixth place finish marked a significant achievement for the eight-man team.

The team improved on an 11th-place finish last year in the same meet and a last-place finish in the 2007 season.

Coming in first place for the team and 17th overall in the men’s 10K, redshirt sophomore Adam Cunningham gained All-Region honors with a time of 30:46.85. He was the first runner to not receive an individual bid for Nationals.

“It’s a little disappointing,” Cunningham said. “We gave it our all and gave it everything we could on that day, but it just didn’t happen. We’ll be back next year.”

Sophomore Evan Watchempino also gained All-Region honors and placed 22nd overall with a time of 30:57.30. He was also just shy of making an individual trip to the NCAA National Championships.

The teams are now continuing their yearlong training and transitioning into the indoor track and field season.

“We continued to be consistent, progress, and compete well, and I was very happy with the whole group,” Watson said. “We went in and did what we did and are a better team than we were a year ago.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.

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