Tough conference field hinders Syracuse cross country at ACC Championships
By: Jack Knight | @Jack_On_Sports
Syracuse was riding high after team victories and strong individual performances two weeks ago. The Orange’s men’s team won the NCAA Pre-Nationals and the Princeton Invitational, and the women’s side showed out in New Jersey despite not racing enough people for a team score. Coming into Friday’s action at the ACC Championships, the SU men were the top team in the conference at No. 8 nationally and the ‘Cuse women had proven many wrong in regular season play.
But in its first postseason race of the season, both the Syracuse men and women faltered.
The eighth-ranked Syracuse men started off the morning with an 8k race. Even though the Orange were the favorites as the highest-ranked side, the ACC boasted four other ranked teams with three of them sitting inside of the top 15. No. 10 Wake Forest, which was ranked above SU preseason, always presented the toughest test due to its depth and year-to-year dominance. And the Demon Deacon depth was pivotal in Blacksburg as Wake Forest finished at the top with 48 points, and the ‘Cuse came in third with 94.Though SU and Virginia Tech were tied at 94, the Hokies’ top runner finished in third and therefore earned VT the bump.
While the Orange still had an upper-eschelon finish in a tough ACC field, they didn’t have any true standout individual performers. SU didn’t have a single runner finish inside of the top 10 as its fastest runner, sophomore Connell Alford, placed 11th at 23:00.8. But outside of him and junior Connor Ackley’s 17th-place slot, everyone for the ‘Cuse was outside of the top 20 and made gaining a victory simply insurmountable. Wake Forest had a trio of finishers in the top 10 and Virginia Tech had one. While its average time was just under 20 seconds slower than Wake Forest, SU could have won with a stronger mark at the top of the leaderboard.
The men didn’t get the finish they wanted, but then just 10 minutes later the SU women were off with a 6k race. The Orange finished 12th at the Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, but had a lot of strong finishes at the Princeton Invitational despite only racing four and not qualifying as a team. But similar to the men’s team, that momentum was short-lived. The ‘Cuse’s first postseason race ended in a 12th-place finish. SU sophomore Keira Rogan starred once again as the ‘Cuse’s top finisher at 16th (19:35.4), but she didn’t get any help from the rest of the roster. After Rogan, the next Syracuse runner didn’t cross until 40th place. The tough conference field was overwhelming: SU faced eight ranked teams in Blacksburg.
Syracuse can rebound in two weeks at the NCAA Northeast Regionals. But until then, make sure to follow me @Jack_On_Sports for updates on everything SU cross country.
