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Oct. 16, 2004
Terre Haute, Ind. - The Wake Forest cross country teams competed in the Pre-National Race in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday. The women placed ninth out of 36 teams in the 6,000m race while the men grabbed a 23rd place finish out of their 8,000m, 37 team race. Hanna Bremler and Selina Sekulic placed 24th and 25th respectively to lead the Deacon women, while Sean Stevens led the men with a 72nd place finish. Bremler and Sekulic both ran a 21:13.1, even though Sekulic had the seven second edge in the 3k split. Michelle Sikes was not far behind, with a 21:21.5, followed by Anna Sherman with a 41st place time of 21:25.6. Freshman Liz Hankinson was the only Deacon in her class to compete. She earned a 154th place finish with a 22:43.0 time. Molly Nunn rounded out the Deacon team with a 23:02.4 mark. 246 females competed in the women's white race. The women's race consisted of nine teams ranked in the top-20, two teams previously ranked (Washington and Northern Arizona), ACC rivals Florida State and North Carolina State and closely ranked Villanova. Individual champion Renee Metevier of Colorado led her team to the overall women's title as well. Colorado claimed the top spot with 94 points. The Deacons tallied 280 points, only 10 points behind No.8 UC-Santa Barbara. Only Michigan, Arizona State, North Carolina State, Michigan State, Tennessee, Villanova and UC-Santa Barbara finished ahead of the Deacons. Wake Forest fared better than conference rival Florida State by four spots (150 points). Stevens led the Deacon men with the only top-100 finish. His 24:57.9 mark was good for a 72nd place finish. Shane Alhers posted a 111th place finish after a 25:21.2 performance. Joel Conn placed 119th, while John Compton finished 171st. Brian Smith and Brad Wharton completed the Deacon team with 178th and 190th spot finishes respectively. The 37 team field offered 256 runners.
The Deacon men participated in the Blue Race, which featured 10 top-25 teams, including regional rival William and Mary (No. 22). Two other teams, (Central Michigan and Georgia) had been ranked in the top-25 at some point this season. ACC schools, Clemson and North Carolina also competed in the men's blue race. Colorado claimed the team championship for the men as well, paced by No.2 finisher Brent Vaughn. Matt Gonzales of New Mexico was the individual meet champion. Wake Forest returns to action at the ACC Championship in two weekends. Maryland hosts the conference tournament this year. |
