Cross Country

Florida State Welcomes ACC Cross Country Championships on Friday

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (theACC.com) – Florida State University will host the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships on Friday, October 29, at the Apalachee Regional Park. The Men’s 8K Championship will begin at 8:40 a.m. ET, followed by the Women’s 6K Championship at 9:30 a.m. ACC Network will have live coverage of both races, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
  • All things regarding the ACC Cross Country Championships can be found on the Championships page HERE.
  • Flash Results will have live scoring during and at the conclusion of both races and may be accessed HERE.
  • The defending back-to-back national champion NC State women, ranked No. 1 nationally throughout the majority of the season, are seeking their eighth straight ACC Championship. The Wolfpack owns 28 total ACC titles in women’s cross country, the most by any league school in any women’s sport.
  • The Wake Forest men claimed the fifth ACC men’s title in program history last season and their first in nearly three decades. The Demon Deacons placed four runners among the top eight to finish 42 points ahead of second-place Syracuse.
  • The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Top 30 Poll features five ACC teams on both the men’s and women’s side.
  • NC State women – who were chosen as the ACC preseason favorite – currently rank No. 2 and are followed by Notre Dame at No. 8, Virginia at No. 10, Syracuse at No. 28 and Duke at No. 30. Wake Forest and North Carolina are receiving votes. The five teams in the women’s poll are tied for the second-most of any conference.
  • The ACC continues to lead all conferences with five teams ranked nationally in the men’s poll. Syracuse ranks No. 4, followed by North Carolina at No. 11, Notre Dame at No. 14, Virginia at No. 16 and Wake Forest at No. 20. Florida State is receiving votes.
  • Defending ACC champion and the 2022-23 ACC Female Athlete of the Year Katelyn Tuohy is part of the Wolfpack lineup that became the first team to win back-to-back national titles since 2009-10. In 2022, Tuohy swept the postseason with titles at the ACC Championship, the NCAA Southeast Regional and the NCAA Championship. Senior Kelsey Chmiel, who placed second at the ACC Championship and Southeast Regional and third at the 2022 NCAA Championship, is also a returning member to a stacked NC State squad.
  • Two-time All-Americans Olivia Markezich (Notre Dame) and Sam Bush (NC State), and 2022 All-Americans Kelsey Harrington (North Carolina), Savannah Roark (Syracuse) and Amina Maatoug (Duke) also return for the 2023 Championships.
  • On the men’s side, two-time All-American Parker Wolfe and the North Carolina lineup head into the Championships following a seventh-place finish at the 2022 NCAA Championship and a second-place finish at the 2022 Southeast Regional. With Wolfe leading the way, the Tar Heels claimed 10th at the 2022 NCAA Championship, their best finish since 1985. The defending ACC champion, Notre Dame’s Carter Solomon, also returned for this season following earning All-America status at the NCAA Championship.
  • Fellow All-American Luke Tewalt also returns for 2023 after he helped lead Wake Forest to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship, the program’s best finish since 1989.
  • Florida State’s Abdirizak Ibrahim posted a season-opening victory at the Firetower Project hosted by Appalachian State to win the USTFCCCA’s opening National Runner of the Week award on Sept. 12.
  • This will mark the 4th time Florida State has played host to the ACC Cross Country Championships and the first since 2015, when the Syracuse men and Virginia women claimed team titles.
  • The top 21 men’s and women’s finishers at the ACC Championships will earn All-ACC recognition. The first true freshman to cross the finish line in the men’s and women’s races will be recognized as ACC Freshmen of the Year. Notre Dame’s Izaiah Steury took honors on the men’s side with his ninth-place finish, while Duke’s Dalia Frias was the top women’s freshman with a 31st-place finish.
  • ACC Runners of the Year and Coaches of the Year will be determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches next month following the completion of the NCAA Championships.

2023 ACC Men’s Performer of the Week
Sept. 5 – Abdirizak Ibrahim, Sr., Florida State
Sept. 12 – Perry Mackinnon, R-Sr., Syracuse
Sept. 19 – Josh Methner, Jr., Notre Dame
Sept. 26 – Parker Wolfe, Jr., North Carolina
Oct. 3 – David Mullarky, Jr., Florida State
Oct. 10 – Paul Specht, Jr., Wake Forest
Oct. 17 – Rocky Hansen, Fr., Wake Forest
Oct. 24 – Gabriel Planty, R-So., Syracuse
 
2023 ACC Women’s Performer of the Week
Sept. 5 – Alyson Churchill, R-Jr., Florida State
Sept. 12 – Sophia Jacobs-Townsley, R-Sr., Syracuse
Sept. 19 – Alyson Churchill, R-Jr., Florida State
Sept. 26 – Margot Appleton, Jr., Virginia
Oct. 3 – Kelsey Chmiel, Sr., NC State
Oct. 10 – Emma Douglass, So., Wake Forest
Oct. 17 – Katelyn Tuohy, Sr., NC State
Oct. 24 – Caroline Kirby, R-So., Syracuse
 
2023 ACC Men’s Freshman of the Week
Sept. 5 – Aiden Neal, Fr., North Carolina
Sept. 26 – Rocky Hansen, Fr., Wake Forest
Oct. 3 – Innocent Ntwali, Fr., Louisville
Oct. 17 – Rocky Hansen, Fr., Wake Forest
 
2023 Women’s Freshman of the Week
Sept. 5 – Thais Rolly, Fr., Duke
Sept. 12 – Camy Kiser, Fr., Pitt
Sept. 19 – Gladys Chepngetich, Fr., Clemson
Sept. 26 – Gillian Bushee, Fr., Virginia
Oct. 3 – Gladys Chepngetich, Fr., Clemson | Leah Stephens, Fr., NC State
Oct. 17 – Leah Stephens, Fr., NC State