LOUISVILLE, Ky. (theACC.com) – For the first time since 2008, the Virginia Cavaliers are ACC Men’s Cross Country Champions, while NC State won its ninth ACC Women’s Cross Country Championship in 10 years Friday morning at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park.
The Wolfpack, who earned their 29th team title in program history, were led by the women’s individual cross country champion, sophomore Angelina Napoleon. With a time of 19:13.9, Napoleon broke the E.P. “Tom” Sawyer course record by more than five seconds. Napoleon is the Wolfpack’s seventh consecutive ACC women’s individual champion. Following Napoleon for the Wolfpack were Grace Hartman (4th, 19:16.9), Hannah Gapes (5th, 19:24.4), Bethany Michalak (8th, 19:35.4) and the top freshman finisher, Sadie Engelhardt (10th, 19:45.5). Finishing with a margin of victory of 61 points, the NC State women pushed past the 2024 ACC Women’s Cross Country Champion, Notre Dame, which finished as the 2025 runner-up.
NC State led all teams with six All-ACC honorees, followed by Notre Dame with three and North Carolina and Virginia with two apiece. Notre Dame’s Mary Bonner Dalton finished as the runner-up (19:14.9), while Clemson’s Silvia Jelego (19:15.2) placed third.
Virginia stood atop the ACC Men’s Cross Country Championship podium for the first time since 2008 after Gary Martin turned in a time of 22:39.4 to finish as the runner-up. Four of Virginia’s five scoring runners – Martin, Justin Wachtel (10
th, 22:59.7), Nathan Mountain (12
th, 23:00.5) and Brett Gardner (13
th, 23:01.5) - earned All-ACC honors after finishing in the top 21 of the championship meet.
The Cavaliers finished with 61 total points to claim the team title by just four points. Syracuse finished as the men’s team runner-up, totaling 65 points. The Orange were followed by Wake Forest (111 points), Notre Dame (114) and Virginia Tech (152) to round out the top-five of the team performances. Each of Syracuse’s scoring runners earned All-ACC honors to lead the way with five honorees.
Individually, Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen shattered the course record by 40 seconds to claim the Demon Deacons’ first individual title since 2001. Hansen paced the way throughout the race, leading at every split. The star-studded field at the ACC Championships lived up to expectations with each of the top-nine finishers breaking the course record.
The first true freshman to finish each race was designated as the ACC Men’s and Women’s Freshman of the Year. Louisville’s Elsingi Kipruto crossed the line with a time of 22:53.8, earning the bronze medal and becoming the first Louisville student-athlete to receive the ACC Cross Country Men’s Freshman of the Year honor. On the women’s side, NC State’s Sadie Engelhardt finished 10th overall with a time of 19:45.5, earning NC State’s first ACC Freshman of the Year honor in over a decade.
Team Scores
Men
- Virginia, 61
- Syracuse, 65
- Wake Forest, 111
- Notre Dame, 114
- Virginia Tech, 152
- North Carolina, 154
- Stanford, 164
- Louisville, 176
- Duke, 298
- NC State, 315
- Pitt, 343
- Florida State, 360
- Georgia Tech, 381
- Clemson, 391
- Boston College, 403
- California, 436
- Miami, 539
Women
- NC State, 28
- Notre Dame, 89
- North Carolina, 127
- Stanford, 150
- Virginia, 170
- Duke, 198
- Boston College, 207
- Virginia Tech, 214
- Wake Forest, 227
- Clemson, 242
- Louisville, 265
- Florida State, 281
- Syracuse, 303
- SMU, 325
- California, 424
- Pitt, 449
- Georgia Tech, 496
- Miami, 570
Men’s All-ACC
- Rocky Hansen, Wake Forest
- Gary Martin, Virginia
- Elsingi Kipruto, Louisville
- George Couttie, Virginia Tech
- Leo Young, Stanford
- Colton Sands, North Carolina
- Ethan Coleman, Notre Dame
- Sam Lawler, Syracuse
- Tomer Tarragano, North Carolina
- Justin Wachtel, Virginia
- Assaf Harari, Syracuse
- Nathan Mountain, Virginia
- Brett Gardner, Virginia
- Peter Walsdorf, Syracuse
- Benne Anderson, Syracuse
- Jojo Jourdon, Wake Forest
- Matthew Neill, Syracuse
- Ian Kibiwot, Louisville
- James Dargan, Stanford
- Nicholas Kipchirchir, Virginia Tech
- Geoffrey Kirwa, Louisville
Women’s All-ACC
- Angelina Napoleon, NC State
- Mary Bonner Dalton, Notre Dame
- Silvia Jelego, Clemson
- Grace Hartman, NC State
- Hannah Gapes, NC State
- Vera Sjoberg, North Carolina
- Sophia Kennedy, Stanford
- Bethany Michalak, NC State
- Angelina Perez, Wake Forest
- Sadie Engelhardt, NC State
- Stephanie Moss, Duke
- Brooke Rauber, NC State
- Gladys Chepngetich, Clemson
- Brynn Brown, North Carolina
- Bieke Schipperen, Florida State
- Amaya Aramani, Notre Dame
- Tatum David, Virginia
- Gillian Bushee, Virginia
- Siona Chisholm, Notre Dame
- Selma Anderson, Syracuse
- Katie Bohike, Virginia Tech