The North Carolina cross country teams competed in the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, a meet that featured 38 men's teams and 37 women's teams in the two main races. Despite the deep field of competition, the women's team finished 16th and the men's team placed 17th on Saturday.
What happened?
In the women’s Blue Division 6K, redshirt junior Paige Hofstad led the team with a time of 20:35.0 and a 19th-place finish. Graduate student Morgan Ilse placed 87th with a time of 21:21.6. The next Tar Heel to finish was redshirt junior Mady Clahane with a time of 21:32.9, good for 110th overall. With a time of 21:45.0, senior Erin Edmundson finished shortly after, placing 130th. First-years Lizzy Harding and Naomi Harding placed 161st and 164th, respectively. First-year Alex Morris wrapped it up for UNC's women's team with a 202nd-place finish.
Redshirt junior Mitch Resor led the men's team with a 56th-place finish in the men’s Blue Division 8K with a time of 24:29.5. Next, senior Jeremy Brown, with a time of 24:49.5 placed 95th and senior Brandon Tubby finished in 24:54.8, placing 107th overall. In 111th place, redshirt junior Alex Milligan ran a 24:56.2. Junior Jesse Hunt finished with 25:06.7 and placed 133rd. At 25:44.0, senior Matt Thornton placed 185th. Sophomore John Tatter rounded out the list at 27:59.5, good for 256th place.
In the women’s Open 6K, junior Emmeline Fisher finished 20th with a time of 22:14.7. Redshirt junior Luke Peterson's time of 26:09.9 meant he finished 43rd in the men’s Open 8K race.
Who stood out?
In the first 2,000 meters of the women’s Blue Division 6K, Hofstad placed 32nd. By the next 2,000 meters, she had climbed to 25th. By the end of the race, she continued to improve enough to secure a 19th-place finish.
Head coach Chris Miltenberg said Hofstad showed her aggressiveness and drive by asserting herself into the mix from the start, something the pair discussed after the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational earlier in October.
