Hofstad earns All-ACC honors for UNC at 2019 ACC Cross Country Championships

The North Carolina cross country teams competed in the 2019 ACC Cross Country Championships in Blacksburg, Virginia, on Friday. The women's team placed eighth and the men finished 10th, with redshirt-junior Paige Hofstad earning fifth in the women’s 6k race.

What happened?

Redshirt junior Alex Milligan led the men with a time of 25:05.3 to place 27th. The next Tar Heel to finish was sophomore Jesse Hunt who placed 66th with a time of 25:38.6.

Senior Jeremy Brown placed 77th with a time of 25:57.7, and sophomore John Tatter finished close behind him in 80th place with a time of 26:04.0.

Senior Brandon Tubby finished with a time of 26:14.3, good enough for 87th, and first-year Marshall Williamson placed 89th with a time of 26:15.1. Rounding out the group was senior Matt Thornton, placing 106th with a time of 26:55.7.

Hofstad led the women’s team in the 6K race with her All-ACC fifth-place finish and a time of 20:54.1.

Redshirt junior Mady Clahane finished with a time of 21:40.6, placing 33rd. First-year Alex Morris placed 44th with a time of 21:57.3, and in 51st place, senior Erin Edmundson finished with a time of 22:04.7. 

Junior Emmeline Fisher placed 74th in 22:31.0. The Tar Heels had first-year Elizabeth Harding place 83rd with a time of 22:42.2. Soon after, sophomore Camryn Petit finished 86th with a time of 22:43.6. Junior Ashley Smith finished 122nd with a time of 24.04.6.

Who stood out?

Hofstad placed fifth in the women’s 6K race, the first top-five finish for UNC since Annie LeHardy earned fourth in 2014.

Along with Hofstad, Clahane had a noteworthy performance for North Carolina. After battling with injury during the 2018 season, the senior placed 33rd, the best individual finish of her career.

When was it decided?

By the 6K mark, the men's team had pushed from 12th place to 10th place out of 15 teams and held that position until the end of the race.

In the first 1.6K of the women's race, North Carolina clocked in at eighth place and didn't relinquish that standing for the rest of the day.

Why does it matter?

Head coach Chris Miltenberg stressed the importance of this meet and how his team has improved its effort.

“I thought our women did an incredible job of taking the effort at Pre-Nationals," Miltenberg said. "The things we wanted to work on, which was really staying fully focused and engaged throughout the entire 6K, I think we did an okay job of that at Pre-Nationals, but I think we took a massive step forward today.”

Miltenberg said the men ran well but still need to develop their confidence and not let the situation overwhelm them.

"I think in some other spots we let the intensity of the situation unravel us a little bit, we lost focus and became a little complacent and that’s our growth opportunity," Miltenberg said. “That’s where we got to go and continue to grow in order to get better.”

When do they play next?

The UNC cross country team is expected to run at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships in Earlysville, Virginia on Friday, Nov. 15.

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