GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – NC State, fresh off the program’s first-ever NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championship, swept both 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference women’s season honors as announced by the league on Tuesday.
The Wolfpack’s Kelsey Chmiel earned ACC Women’s Runner of the Year honors in a vote of the league’s 15 head coaches, while Laurie Henes was selected as the ACC Women’s Coach of the Year for the sixth consecutive season.
Nationally elite achievements were also recognized on the men’s side, as Florida State’s Adriaan Wildschutt was chosen ACC Men’s Runner of the Year, and Notre Dame’s Sean Carlson repeated as the ACC Men’s Coach of the Year.
NC State’s Chmiel, who hails from Saratoga Springs, New York, capped her stellar 2021 season by leading all ACC runners with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Women’s Championships on Nov. 20. That followed her first-place showing at the Southeast Regional on Nov. 12 and her run to the ACC Championship at Notre Dame on Oct. 29.
Chmiel, who became the third consecutive gold medalist from NC State at the ACC Championship, posted a winning 6K time of 20:02.7 to take first place by more than seven seconds. Her winning Southeast Regional time of 19:58.4 led the field by nearly eight seconds. With a time of 19:34.6 at the NCAA finals, Chmiel led a program-record five All-America Wolfpack runners with her sixth-place finish.
The ACC Runner of the Year award is the second postseason honor for Chmiel, who was also recognized as the USTFCCCA Southeast Regional Female Athlete of the Year.
After placing second in last season’s NCAA Men’s Cross Country Championship, Florida State’s Wildschutt continued to make his mark among the nation’s top runners. The South Africa native became the second Seminole in history to earn back-to-back All-America honors after he placed sixth in the men’s 10k at this year’s NCAA Championship, crossing the line with a personal best of 28:52.0.
Wildschutt repeated as USTFCCCA South Region Male Athlete of the Year after winning five races this season, tying the school record set in 1981 by Herb Wills. Wildschutt was the South Region Champion with a meet record of 29:07.11. He was the 2021 ACC Champion with an 8K time of 23.07, bringing home FSU’s third ACC individual title in program history.
Wildschutt was named the ACC Performer of the Week four times this season, setting a program record.
NC State’s Henes was recognized as the 2021 UTFCCCA National Coach of the Year following the Wolfpack’s NCAA title run, and her accomplishments again netted recognition at the regional and conference level.
Henes led NC State to its first NCAA Championship in women's cross country and third national title in the sport overall. The five All-Americans under her guidance this season set a program record for the most honorees in a single season and were the most by any women's team in 2021.
With a pair of impressive performances at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships and ACC Championships, Wolfpack also tied the program records for the most single-season All-Region and All-ACC with six in each meet.
Under Henes' guidance, NC State won its sixth-straight ACC team title and its fifth-consecutive Southeast Regional championship. The Wolfpack’s 20 total team points at the ACC Women’s Championship matched the lowest score in the history of the meet as Katelyn Tuohy (second place), Hannah Steelman (fourth) and Alexandra Hays (fifth) joined Chmiel in posting top-five finishes.
Notre Dame’s Carlson was selected ACC Men’s Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season after guiding the Fighting Irish to a ninth-place NCAA finish, the Great Lakes Region title and their third ACC Championship title in four years.
The ninth-place finish marked the third consecutive NCAA top-10 showing for the Notre Dame men. Two Irish claimed All-America honors under Carlson’s watch in the men’s 10K final as Dylan Jacobs placed 10th and Danny Kilrea 31st.
Notre Dame placed three runners among the top five at the ACC Men’s Championship with Jacobs finishing second, Kilrea fourth and Yared Nuguse fifth, totaling an impressive 32 points while posting the first-place team finish on its home course.