Cross Country Heads To ACC Championships

Oct. 30, 2014

ACC Championships
Date	Friday, October 31 \| W: 10:00 a.m. \| M: 10:45 a.m.
Location	Panorama Farms / Earlysville, Va.
Television	ESPN3
Radio	N/A
Online	ESPN3
Game Notes / Stats	Meet Home Page \| 2014 Results
Promotions	N/A
Social Media	@PittTFandXC - Twitter / Facebook

PITTSBURGH - With the regular season complete, the Pitt men's and women's cross country teams gear up for a month-long slate of three postseason races, beginning with the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, on Friday, Oct. 31.

This year's event is hosted by the University of Virginia and will take place at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. The gun goes off for the women's 6K at 10 a.m. followed by the men's 8K at 10:45 a.m. For the first time, ESPN3 will stream the Championships live.

Having the majority of last year's squad back on both sides and a crop of freshman that have gained plenty of experience this year, Pitt is poised to make a leap in the final standings of this season's championship.

SIZING THE FIELD
The women's field is loaded with six nationally ranked teams, topped by No. 12 Florida State. Four more teams are in the top-20, including Virginia (13), North Carolina (15), Syracuse (16) and NC State (18). Boston College rounds top the national rankings in the last spot at No. 30.

In all, 13 of the 15 ACC teams are regionally-ranked. Of the nine different regionals, the ACC holds three of the top spots. The Panthers enter the ACC Championships ranked 10th as the only league school in the Mid-Atlantic region.

On the men's side, there are four ranked squads with Syracuse leading the way at No. 3. Behind the Orange are No. 13 Virginia, No. 15 Florida State and No. 28 North Carolina. Pitt, which is ranked 13th in the Mid-Atlantic region, is one of 12 ACC schools listed in the regional rankings.

FOLLOW THE MEET
As one of the premier conferences in collegiate cross country, the ACC is partnering with ESPN to live stream the event on ESPN3. Covering the event for ESPN are on-air talent Dean Linke and Mike Caldwell.

The official hashtag of the event is #ACCXC, which will be utilized on twitter by the ACC track and field & cross country twitter account and additional contributors.

Below is a list of links to find information prior, during and after the meet.

LAST TIME OUT
In the midst of one of their more successful seasons in recent memory, the Pitt women's team was bumped up to the Blue race at the ISU Pre-National Invitational, where they competed against 42 other regionally ranked teams, including six from the national polls. The Panthers placed 41st and were led by junior Hillary Boxheimer's 79th place finish in 21:50.7.

Participating in the White race, the men posted a 14th place finish as a team in a field of 28 squads. Junior Michael Runco was the top Panthers finisher for the second meet in a row, crossing the line with a personal best time of 25:16.2 for a ninth place showing.

RUNNERS RACK UP ACCOLADES
When senior Cullen Davis was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Performer of the Week on Sept. 9, it was the first time since 2008, a Pitt runner was awarded a weekly award from a conference office.

The recognition hasn't stopped there as two more runners were honored a total of three times this season. The Eastern College Athletic Conference selected both freshmen Beth Shenck and Melanie Vlasic as their Division I Rookie of the Week in back-to-back weeks on Sept. 11 and Sept. 18, respectively. Vlasic won the award again most recently on Oct. 8.

TEAM TITLES AND INDIVIDUALS CHAMPS
Pitt has fielded a total of 14 teams spread across eight races this season, grabbing the team title in six of the events. Additionally, three Panthers runners, all on the men's side, have won races this year. They are Cullen Davis (UB Stampede Invite), Matt Kazanjian (SHU Griffin Classic) and Aaron Lauer (St. Vincent Invitational).

Coming into the season, Pitt runners placed first a combined three times since 2009. Since the turn of the century, no Pitt cross country team has had more than two first place finishers in a single season until this year.

PROGRAM-BEST REGIONAL RANKINGS RELEASED
Since the release of the first in-season regional rankings by the USTFCCCA, both Pitt's men and women's cross country teams have been a mainstay in the polls.

The women, who began the season 14th in the preseason poll, skyrocketed all the way to a program-best seventh after the second week of competition and stayed there until the most recent ranking, which bumped them down to 10th. Over on the men's side, after an impressive first weekend of racing, the men jumped into the regional polls at 13th, matching a program-high. After dropping to 15th two weeks ago, Pitt is back up to its season-high ranking of 13th.

When the USTFCCCA released its first poll of the regular season, it marked the first time that the Pitt cross country program had both men's and women's teams ranked since at least 2009, which is how far back the organization's records go.

LAST YEAR AT ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
In their first trip to the ACC Championships last year, the Pitt men and women placed 12th and 13th respectively. The men return five of their top seven finishers from a year ago, while the women bring back their top five from 2013.

Leading the way for the men was Cullen Davis, who was 61st in 12:24.9. Hillary Boxheimer was Pitt's first female finisher in 69th with a time of 22:07.8

UP NEXT
Both teams put their regional rakings to the test as cross country heads two hours east to Penn State for the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals on Saturday, Nov. 15. Earlier this year, Pitt took a preview of the course when it competed at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, held by PSU, back in September.

ACC Championships
Women	Men
Dee Dee Adams	Alex Archer
Hillary Boxheimer	Billy Caldwell
Ellen Crook	Cullen Davis
Kristyna Finikiotis	Ryan Hughes
Amy Kelly	Cordon Louco
Samantha Owens	Chris Montgomery
Morgan Perry	Wes Roberts
Joslin Sellers	Michael Runco
Beth Shenck	Nate Sloan
Melanie Vlasic	Eric Stratman