Virginia Men Finish 22nd at NCAA Championships

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Nov. 21, 2015

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LOUISVILLE, Ky.–The Virginia men’s cross country team finished 22nd at the NCAA Championships Saturday afternoon (Nov. 21) at EP Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.

The Cavaliers scored a team total of 480 points and placed 22nd. It was the fourth-consecutive year UVA has competed at the national meet as a full team.

Virginia was led across the line by sophomore Chase Weaverling (Darnestown, Md.), who finished 55th in 30:38.8, and junior Henry Wynne (Westport, Conn.), who was 59th in 30:40.3. Junior Thomas Madden (Front Royal, Va.) passed a bunch of competitors right at the finish line to place 150th, while sophomore Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.) and junior Zach Herriott (Kansas City, Mo.) rounded out the scoring five in 166th and 171th, respectively.

“Henry and Chase have developed so much this year and have set themselves up for the long term,” UVA director of track and field/cross country Bryan Fetzer said.

“Honestly, it played out how it has all year,” UVA men’s cross country coach Pete Watson said. “We had two guys, Henry (Wynne) and Chase (Weaverling), who ran up front and competed really well, but our depth, which we thought would be our strength this year, just could not put all the pieces together.”

“Obviously today didn’t go as we expected,” Fetzer said. “Most programs would be excited about four-straight NCAA top-25 finishes, but our expectations are much higher than that. We have a very young team and return the majority of the team for success for many years to come. It is about building a program not just team. We want to learn from the positives and correct the negatives, so the next time we are in this situation the results can improve.

“The crazy thing about our sport is you have to have a very short memory. Indoor season officially began about 1:32 p.m. today and we look to build on the positives of cross country and take that onto the track.”