Michelle Sikes Finishes Second At ACC Championships
Deacon women's team takes eighth, men ninth

Oct. 28, 2006

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Wake Forest senior Michelle Sikes finished second at the ACC Cross Country Championships here Saturday morning at the Panorama Farms course. Sikes' bid to become the Demon Deacons' first ACC women's champion since 1998 fell just short as NC State's Julia Lucas took first place.

The Wake Forest women's team finished eighth and the men's team took ninth place. For the Deacon women, the eighth-place finish was their lowest in the ACC Championship since 2001. The WFU men's team had their lowest finish ever.

NC State swept the men's and women's team championships. The Wolfpack held off Duke and Virginia for the women's title. The NCSU men's team used fourth-, fifth-, sixth- and seventh-place finishes to run away with the crown.

The Wake Forest women's team finished just seven strokes behind Boston College for seventh place.

Sikes ran an impressive sub-20:00 6k (20:57.1) to finish second out of 93 runners. State's Lucas finished 15 seconds ahead of Sikes. Lucas and Sikes are both expected to have an impact at the NCAA Championship next month in Terre Haute, Ind.

While Sikes was the only Deacon on the women's side to finish in the top 30, five Deacons, including three underclassmen, finished in the top 50. WFU junior Caitlin Chrisman finished 31st with a time of 22:28.4. Sophomore Nicole Schapper finished 41st at 22:46.0. Senior Erin Franklin took 45th in 22:58.6. Sophomore Allison Kieffer was 47th at 23:02.5.

Wake junior Selina Sekulic ran 23:34.2 to finish 60th. Freshman Mary Alice Howard came in 65th with a time 23:47.8.

The Deacon men's team came within just four points of eighth place and within 21 points of seventh place.

Junior John Compton paced all Wake Forest runners, finishing the 8k race in 25:34.0 and in 29th place. Wake also took 43rd, 44th and 45th place behind junior Chris Catton (25:58.2), sophomore Mark Russell (25:58.6) and senior Brad Wharton (26:01.4).

Senior Joel Conn finished 57th in 26:24.3. Freshman Marcus Dillon took 63rd at 26:34.4. Senior Jared Hill took 74th place with a time of 26:54.3. Senior Ottie Ray Kerley was 87th at 27:20.9.

Next up for Wake Forest's cross country teams will be the NCAA Southeast Regional in Louisville, Ky., Nov. 11th.