Cross Country Closes Out Season At IC4A/ECAC
11/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
| IC4A/ECAC Championships | |||
| Date | Saturday, November 14 | ||
| Location | Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, N.Y. | ||
| 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 - With neither team nor any individual qualifying for the NCAA Championships this year, the Pitt cross country teams will be at full strength this weekend at the IC4A/ECAC Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, N.Y. on Saturday, Nov. 22.
The Panthers are coming off their best finish at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in years on both the men's and women's side and will look to follow up last season's spectacular performances at the IC4A/ECAC event, in which Pitt's women won the team title while the men were third.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pitt women had their best finish at the NCAA Regionals since 2004, taking 11th place. Over the past four seasons, the women have quickly climbed up the standings, going from 26th in 2011 all the way to 11th this year. They were led by junior Hillary Boxheimer, who posted a time of 21:21 on the 6K course and placed 26th, one spot behind earning All-Region honors.
The men also ran their best race as a team since 2006 with a 12th place effort, up from 16th last year and 21st three years ago. Senior Cullen Davis and junior Michael Runco provided their typical one-two punch, finishing just seven seconds apart. Davis was 42nd in 31:14 and Runco was 48th in 31:21
It was the first time since 2007 that both teams put at least two runners in the top-50 at the meet.
LAST TIME AT IC4A/ECAC
Wrapping up the season last year, both the men and women's teams finished on a high note, with the women winning the ECAC Championships and the men racing to third place in the IC4A Championships.
Boxheimer paced the women once again with her third place finish out of 162 competitors in 18:20.8 on the 5K course. The men were led by Runco, who was also third among a field of 186 runners and completed the 8K race in a time of 25:50.7.
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 18 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
Over the course of the season following the first weekly poll released by the USTFCCCA, both Pitt's men and women's cross country teams never fell out of the rankings, marking the first time the teams have gone wire-to-wire in the rankings.
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, before dipping to 11th following the ACC Championships.
After an impressive first weekend of racing, the men's team jumped into the regional polls at 13th, matching a program-high. After dropping to 15th for one week, Pitt went back up to its season-high ranking of 13th and rounded out the season with their 12th place finish at Regionals.
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
A majority of the cross country runners will continue competing throughout the school year as indoor track and field season begins with the Golden Flash Gala in Kent, Ohio from Dec. 5 to Dec. 6.
