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Sept. 16, 2016

Note: Release reflects updated team placing following implentation of tiebreaker after meet had concluded.

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CARY, N.C.-The No. 13 Virginia men’s cross country team finished third at the adidas XC Challenge, while a freshman-laden No. 14 UVA women’s team placed seventh Friday evening (Sept. 16) at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

In the men’s contest, Florida State won with a total of 34 points, while Virginia and NC State tied on 66 points, but the Wolfpack won a tiebreaker to earn second place.

Senior Mike Marsella (Hope Valley, R.I.) finished the 6,000-meter course in fourth overall in a time of 18:07.0. Redshirt freshman Alex Corbett (Burke, Va.) also posted a top-10 finish, placing eighth in a time of 18:17.2. Rounding out the scoring five were redshirt freshmen John Pace (Chantilly, Va.) and Matthew Novak (Glen Allen, Va.) in 15th and 18th overall, respectively, and true freshman Lachlan Cook (Brisbane, Australia) in 29th overall.

“We had very encouraging runs from Mike (Marsella) and Alex (Corbett),” UVA men’s cross country coach Pete Watson said. “We came here (to Cary) trying to figure out the back end of our championship team and those two look like they are going to be able to contribute.

“We ran the main group of Lachlan (Cook), Brent (Demarest), Chase (Weaverling) and Zach (Herriott) very easy and controlled just to see the ACC Championship course. They are fit, in heavy training and have a big meet next for those guys.”

On the women’s side, Virginia, running a side made up of five freshmen, finished seventh with 176 points. NC State won the meet with 40 points.

Freshman Emma Call (Richmond, Va.) placed 20th overall in a 5,000-meter time of 17:59.4 to lead the Cavaliers across the line. Fellow freshman Nadia Power (Dublin, Ireland) was 29th overall in 18:20.7, while freshmen Georgie Mackenzie (Leeburg, Va.), Maryanna Lansing (Menands, N.Y.) and Jill Bracaglia (Herndon, Va.) rounded out the scoring five in 41st, 55th and 64th, respectively.

“We went with a young lineup tonight and used it as an opportunity to see the ACC Championship course later this year,” UVA women’s cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “Like in other sports, we can use some of these early-season meets to put some people in different situations to see how they react. I liked how our women competed and brought some good focus with them.”

Next up, the Cavaliers host the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational next Friday, Sept. 23, at Panorama Farms in Earlysville.

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