BLACKSBURG, Va. (theACC.com) — Wake Forest claimed its third Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship in five years, while NC State captured its ninth ACC Women’s Cross Country Championship in the last 10 years on Friday morning at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course in Blacksburg, Virginia.
NC State earned its 30th women’s title in program history behind individual champion Hannah Gapes, who posted a time of 18:23.8 to break the course record by 90 seconds and the ACC Championship meet record by nearly 40 seconds. Each of the first 10 runners to cross the finish line also surpassed the previous course record.
Gapes became NC State’s eighth consecutive women’s individual ACC champion. The Wolfpack placed four runners in the top 20, including Bethany Michalak (seventh), 2025 ACC champion Angelina Napoleon (14th) and Emily Wisniewski (20th), and finished with 65 points to top runner-up Clemson by 48. Clemson was led by Silvia Jelelgo (second), Judy Kosgei (fifth) and Nancy Cherop (sixth). Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Duke rounded out the top five.
On the men’s side, Wake Forest totaled 48 points to win the team title, followed by Virginia Tech and Syracuse, which tied with 94 points before the Hokies claimed runner-up honors via a head-to-head tiebreaker. Notre Dame (95) and Stanford (157) completed the top five.
Louisville’s Elsingi Kipruto became the program’s first ACC men’s individual cross country champion, winning in 22:03.5 after taking the lead during the final split. Kipruto broke the ACC Championship meet and Buford Meredith course records. The rest of the top five featured Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen (22:10.5), Virginia Tech’s George Couttie (22:18.0), Louisville’s Nickson Kogei (22:38.4) and Wake Forest’s Aurelien Radja (22:51.2).
North Carolina’s Caden Leonard was the top men’s true freshman, placing ninth, while Clemson’s Nancy Cherop was the top women’s true freshman after finishing sixth.
Wake Forest led all teams with five All-ACC selections, followed by Clemson with four.
Team Scores
Men
- Wake Forest, 48 points
- Virginia Tech, 94*
- Syracuse, 94*
- Notre Dame, 95
- Stanford, 157
- Duke, 159
- North Carolina, 206
- Louisville, 246
- Virginia, 248
- Pitt, 264
- Florida State, 278
- NC State, 333
- Boston College, 364
- Georgia Tech, 373
- Clemson, 377
- California, 458
- Miami, 541
*Although tied on points, Virginia Tech won the head-to-head tiebreaker over Syracuse.
Women
- NC State, 65 points
- Clemson, 113
- Virginia Tech, 125
- North Carolina, 161
- Duke, 165
- Notre Dame, 173
- Virginia, 200
- Boston College, 214
- Florida State, 221
- Wake Forest, 267
- Louisville, 278
- Syracuse, 290
- SMU, 310
- Stanford, 313
- Pitt, 407
- California, 449
- Georgia Tech, 463
- Miami, 540
Men’s All-ACC
Finlay Ross-Davie, Duke
Kaden Levings, Florida State
Elsingi Kipruto, Louisville
Nickson Kogei, Louisville
Caden Leonard, North Carolina
Daelen Ackley, Notre Dame
Ethan Coleman, Notre Dame
Cameron Todd, Notre Dame
Paul Bergeron, Stanford
Connor Ackley, Syracuse
Connell Alford, Syracuse
Louis Small, Syracuse
Sean Gray, Virginia
George Couttie, Virginia Tech
Cameron Davis, Virginia Tech
Samuel Idiens, Virginia Tech
Bryce Gilmore, Wake Forest
Rocky Hansen, Wake Forest
JoJo Jourdon, Wake Forest
Aurelien Radja, Wake Forest
Charlie Sprott, Wake Forest
Women’s All-ACC
Imogen Gardiner, Boston College
Gladys Chepngetich, Clemson
Nancy Cherop, Clemson
Silvia Jelelgo, Clemson
Judy Kosgei, Clemson
Victoria Garces, Duke
Nancy Chepleting, Louisville
Hannah Gapes, NC State
Bethany Michalak, NC State
Angelina Napoleon, NC State
Emily Wisniewski, NC State
Mary Bonner Dalton, Notre Dame
Gretchen Farley, Notre Dame
Maureen Cheruiyot, Pitt
Rose Mburu, SMU
Julia Flynn, Stanford
Keira Rogan, Syracuse
Stella Kermes, Virginia
Katie Bohlke, Virginia Tech
Aniya Mosley, Virginia Tech
Brooke Wilson, Wake Forest