The North Carolina cross country competed in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships in Earlysville, Virginia on Friday. The women placed sixth and the men eighth, and with redshirt junior Paige Hofstad’s ninth-place finish in the women’s 6k she advanced to the NCAA Championships.
What happened?
The women started the day in the 6k race and Hofstad led the women with a ninth-place finish and a time of 20:20.8.
Redshirt junior Mady Clahane ran a personal best in the 6k with a time of 21:08.7, good enough for a 32nd place. Closely behind, with a time of 21:12.8, was first-year Alex Morris, who finished 36th. Shortly after, senior Erin Edmundson finished 38th with a time of 21:14.0.
For the second straight event, redshirt junior Alex Milligan led the men, finishing 26th with a time of 30:44.5 in the 10k race. Sophomore Jesse Hunt wasn’t far behind; with a time of 30:47.8, he placed 29th. Senior Jeremy Brown placed 33rd with a time of 30:53.2.
The Tar Heels ran with the confidence head coach Chris Miltenberg wanted them to from the beginning, and the results reflected that. Friday marked the first top-10 finishes in NCAA Regional competition for both teams since 2015.
Who stood out?
Hofstad received first-team All-Region honors and became the first Tar Heel woman to advance to the NCAA Championship stage since 2014. Meanwhile, after missing the 2018 cross country season, Clahane clocked her best 6k time and the best finish of her collegiate career.
On the men’s side, five of the seven Tar Heels had the best individual finishes of their careers. Milligan, Hunt, Brown, Moini and Resor all placed in the highest spots in their NCAA regional careers in their first season under Miltenberg.