Pitt XC Readies For NCAA Regionals
11/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
| NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals | |||
| Date | Friday, November 14 | W: 12:00 p.m. | M: 1:00 p.m. | ||
| Location | Blue/White Golf Courses/University Park, Pa. | ||
| Television | N/A | ||
| Radio | N/A | ||
| Online | N/A | ||
| Game Notes / Stats | Meet Home Page | 2014 Results | ||
| Promotions | N/A | ||
| Social Media | @PittTFandXC - Twitter / Facebook | ||
PITTSBURGH - Expectations are higher than the past few years for both the Pitt and men's and women's teams at this season's NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional, which takes place at Penn State on Friday, Nov. 14 beginning at 12 p.m.
All season long, both teams have been a mainstay in the regional rankings. Dating back to at least 2009, which is how far the USTFCCCA records go back, Pitt hasn't spent an entire season in the regional polls until this year.
The women have climbed as high as seventh and have sat no lower than 11th since the first weekly polls started coming out. The men have jockeyed between 13th and 15th throughout the campaign.
Seeing the success of the teams this year, both coaches and runners alike anticipate some top performances in years by both teams and individuals. As a team, the women will look for their first top-10 at the event finish since 2004, when they were led by All-American Maureen McCandless. The men, meanwhile, have finished no better than 13th since three consecutive top-10 finishes from 2004-2006, and will look to break that streak.
PITT AT THE NCAA MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL
Both the men and women have improved on their places over the past two seasons and hope to continue the trend. Back in 2011, the men finished 21st, and have gradually climbed up the final standings over the last two years, to 17th in 2012 and 16th last season.
Similar to the men, the women have continued to make their way towards the top of the final standings, ascending even higher. Beginning with a 26th place finish in 2011, the women stopped at 18th in 2012 and took 14th in the 2013 rendition.
Leading the way for Pitt in 2013 was a pair of then-sophomores Hillary Boxheimer and Michael Runco. Boxheimer was 49th in a time of 21:27, while Runco was 54th in 31:31. Both will return as challengers in this year's field along with senior Cullen Davis, who was only nine second behind Runco a year ago, and sophomore Dee Dee Adams, who did not race at regionals in 2013.
The women had their best finish since 2007 and the men their best since 2009.
LAST TIME OUT
Despite falling in the standings at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships, both Pitt teams scored less points than the previous season and were not to be overshadowed by strong individual performances by Boxheimer and Davis. Boxheimer finished in 29th, 40 spots higher than in 2012, with a personal best 6K time of 21:04.3. She was a mere 12 seconds (or eight spots) away from earning All-Conference status. Davis rose to 36th from his 61st place showing from 2012, posting an 8K personal record of 24:22.9.
LAST TIME AT PSU
Earlier this year back in September, Pitt previewed parts of the NCAA Regional course when it participated in the Harry Groves Spiked Show Invitational in University Park, Pa. Both the men and women enjoyed top-five performances out of more than 10 teams. The women, led by Adams and Boxheimer, who were 15th and 19th, respectively, bested 20th ranked West Virginia by one spot and 18 points. Davis paced the fifth-place men with his 14th place effort.
SIZING THE FIELD
According to the latest USTFCCCA rankings, three ranked teams, No. 7 Villanova, No. 14 Georgetown and No. 24 Penn State will compete on the men's side. Princeton, meanwhile, was three votes shy of cracking the top-30 and is fourth in the region.
On the women's side three more nationally ranked teams will lineup at the race led by No. 2 Georgetown. After the Hoyas are No. 7 West Virginia and No. 30 Villanova. Earlier this season, the Pitt women topped West Virginia when the Mountaineers were ranked 20th in the country, on Penn State's home course nonetheless.
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 16 teams spread across nine 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 for three weeks. Most recently the women were ranked 11th following the ACC Championships. 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 for one week, 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.
UP NEXT
With some exceptional individual performances, some Pitt runners could head to the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, Nov. 22. For the remaining runners, Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. will be the destination for this year's IC4A/ECAC Championships, also held on Nov. 22.
| NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals | ||
| Women | Men | |
| Dee Dee Adams | Cullen Davis | |
| Hillary Boxheimer | Ryan Hughes | |
| Alexandra Cady | Cordon Louco | |
| Ellen Crook | Chris Montgomery | |
| Amy Kelly | Wes Roberts | |
| Samantha Owens | Michael Runco | |
| Morgan Perry | Nate Sloan | |
| Melanie Vlasic | Eric Stratman | |
Players Mentioned
