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November 3, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia cross country teams competed in the 1998 ACC Cross Country Championships held at Darden Towe Park. In a nine team field for both the women’s and men’s events, North Carolina State made a clean sweep in the ACC Championships, as the Wolfpack claimed first place in both the women’s 5,000 meter run (32 points) and the men’s 8,000 meter run (26 points). Virginia placed fourth in the men’s 8k run (101 points) and fifth in the women’s 5k run (114 points).

In the women’s 5k championship, Janelle Kraus of Wake Forest repeated as the women’s individual champion for the second consecutive year, as she took first overall in the event en route to setting a new course-record time of 17:06.50. Kraus was followed by North Carolina’s Trish Nervo (17:17.20) and a trio of runners from N.C. State which included Lindsey Rogers (17:26.10), Jennifer Modliszewski (17:33.00) and Katie Sabino (17:35.30) to round out the top five women finishes.

Jennifer Owens placed sixth overall (first for UVa) and established a personal-best mark with a time of 17:41.6. With her finish, Owens earned a place on the All-Conference team. First-year runner Sarah Folse posted a collegiate-best time of 18:25.20 as she finished 24th overall (second for UVa) and was followed closely by teammates Frances Warner who placed 26th (18:26.0) and Jamie Sutherland (18:30.5) who took 27th.

Brendan Rodgers of N.C. State won the men’s 8k championship with a course-record time of 24:36.90. Rodgers was followed by Joe Gibson of Clemson (24:45.70) and teammate Chris Dugan (24:51.90). Virginia’s Bob Thiele reeled in a fourth place finish with a time of 24:53.30. Thiele was UVa’s top finisher and was named to the All-Conference team as he helped the Cavaliers post a fourth place team finish. Chris Pluchos of NCSU took fifth with a mark of 24:54.80 to highlight the men’s top five finishes.

Damond Cromer just missed a top 10 finish as he recorded a 11th place finish (second for UVa). However, Cromer finished the event by establishing a new personal-best time with a mark of 25:08.30. First-year runner Thomas Del Sordo posted a 23rd place finish with a time of 25:47.20, while the trio of Matt Illian (26:06.70), Rick Davis (26:06.80) and Rob Pearce (26:11.20) finished 32nd, 33rd and 35th respectively for Virginia.

N.C. State has won four consecutive women’s and men’s ACC Championships. The Wolfpack have won 17 of the 21 (including 11 of the last 12) women’s titles since the inaugural run in 1978, and have claimed six of the last eight championships in the men’s event. N.C. State had six of the top 12 finishes in the women’s event and seven of the top 14 finishes in the men’s event.

Virginia will return to action on Saturday, (Nov 14) when the Cavaliers compete in the 1998 NCAA Southeast Regional which will be held in Greenville, S.C.

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