The Virginia men’s cross country team finished 18th in last weekend’s NCAA Championships. It was a positive ending to their 2016 season. As a team, they finished with 476 points, 351 points behind the NCAA champion Northern Arizona.
The Cavaliers finished with a total time of 2:35:13, an average of 31:03 per runner. Their lowest score was 33, from sophomore Brent Demarest. It was a good time for the young cross country runner, who finished at 30:28.6.
The next finisher for Virginia was senior Zach Herriott in 53rd place with a time of 30:34.1. The Cavaliers struggled to have any runner finish with a score less than 80 following their first two finishers. This contributed to their 18th place finish.
While it was not a top 10 finish, this was the best finish for the Virginia cross country team since 2013. It was a strong finish to their season, and a finish to build on for next year. The Cavaliers finished with low scores in major meets this year, noting a consistency that both the coaches and runners have been looking for.
In both the ACC championships and the NCAA Southeast regionals, the Cavaliers finished in second place as a team with runners placing in the top 10 in each of the two races. Herriott and Demarest have hovered around the Cavaliers’ top performers in their last few races, and their contributions helped with these impressive finishes for Virginia.
Their battles with conference rivals Syracuse and NC State throughout the year ended Saturday. While Virginia was unable to beat the Orange, who finished 3rd in the NCAA championships, the Cavaliers placed ahead of NC State, and had the last word after finishing behind the Wolfpack in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.
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