Deacs Wrap Up Regular Season at Blue Ridge Open
10/13/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 13, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action on Friday afternoon for their last meet of the regular season as they travel to Boone N.C., for the Blue Ridge Open, hosted by Appalachian State.
Friday's race will mark the second time this season that the Deacs have raced on the scenic State Farm Fields in Boone. Their season-opening race back on Sept. 2, the Covered Bridge Open, was also run on the Appalachian State course.
The race times will be a bit earlier than the normal Friday race times this season, with the Women's Gold 5k race set to begin at 3 p.m., followed by the Men's Gold 8k race at 3:45 p.m.
The course at ASU's State Farm Fields is comprised of grass and pea gravel with some asphalt at several crossings. There are two bridges with wood floors that will be crossed twice.
For the women's squad, sophomore Nicole Irving has solidified her position as the top runner for the Deacs this season. The Ballston Lake, N.Y. native has finished first among Wake Forest runners in all three meets thus far, and she has not placed lower than second overall in any meet this season.
Irving has enjoyed a great deal of success on the ASU State Farm Fields, as she captured back-to-back individual titles at the Covered Bridge Open in 2010 and 2011.
Irving has been named the ACC Performer of the Week twice this season, and most recently after finishing in a personal-best 5k time of 16:54.9 at the Charlotte Invitational on Sept. 30.
Also pacing the Deacs this season is sophomore Melanie Powers, as she has finished second behind Irving in each of the past two races. Powers broke the 18-minute mark for the first time in her career at the Charlotte Invitational 5k when she turned in a time of 17:52.9 to place 25th overall.
Allison Homer has raced in two meets this season for the Deacs, finishing second on the team at the Covered Bridge Open and third among Deacon runners at the Charlotte Invitational.
Freshman Aubrey Waggoner has shown consistency and improvement thus far on the season, as she's shaved nearly an entire minute off her first collegiate 5k time. The West Hartford, Conn. native finished fourth in her last outing at the Charlotte Invitational, as she covered the 5k course in a personal-best 18:23.2.
Earlier this season at the Covered Bridge Open, Waggoner finished 16th overall with a 5k time of 19:20.2.
Redshirt-junior Casey Fowler has finished in the top five among Wake Forest runners in each of the past two meets, while freshman Kaitlyn Oliver has finished either fifth or six on the team in three meets this season.
Sophomore Lindsay Kerr saw her first racing action of the season at the Charlotte Invitational, where she finished in a time of 21:31.09 (5k).
As a team, the women's squad has placed fifth or higher in each of their three meets on the season. The Deacs placed second among 12 teams at the Covered Bridge Open, fifth out of 12 teams at the Clemson Invitational, and third out of 36 teams at the Charlotte Invitational.
The Demon Deacon men's squad has also turned in solid team performances to start the year, as they finished fourth overall at the Clemson Invitational and third among 34 teams at the Charlotte Invitational.
Junior Garret Drogosch has emerged as the top Wake Forest runner in the last two meets, as he's finished tenth overall at both the Clemson and Charlotte Invitationals. Drogosch set a new personal-best 8k mark of 24:34.56 at the Clemson Invitational, and he nearly topped that mark at Charlotte, where he finished in 24:41.6.
Senior Paul Loeser has also proven to be a strong runner for the Deacs on this year, as he opened up the season with a second-place overall finish at the Covered Bridge Open in an 8k time of 25:40.2. He most recently finished second on the team behind Drogosch and 14th overall at the Charlotte Invitational in a solid time of 24:50.6.
After a stellar outdoor track season last year, sophomore Alexander Rose has emerged as a prime runner in the Wake Forest pack in his first cross country season. The Brisbane, Australia, native has finished third on the team in each of his past two races, and he recently finished 20th overall in a personal-best time of 25:01.4 at the Charlotte Invitational.
Also running with the front pack for the Deacs this season has been Tom Finneran. The junior from Scituate, Mass., has shown a tremendous amount of consistency for Wake Forest, as he's placed second, fourth, and fourth on the team, respectively, in three races.
Finneran's season-best 8k time this year came at the Clemson Invitational, where he finished 33rd overall with a mark of 25:03.49.
Junior Jake Graham enjoyed a great deal of success on the State Farm Fields earlier this season, as he finished third on the team at the Covered Bridge Open. Like Finneran, his season-best mark of 25:17.97 (8k) also came at the Clemson Invitational.
Fellow junior Anthony Marois has raced in all three meets for the Deacs this season, turning in team finishes of fourth, seventh, and fifth. His season-best 8k time of 25:24.32 came at the Clemson Invitational en route to a 46th-place overall finish.
Junior Nate Guthals has raced in each of the past two meets for Wake Forest, finishing eighth on the team at the Clemson Invitational and seventh at the Charlotte Invitational.
Additionally, freshmen Connor Crowley, Brian O'Toole, Jake Dearmon, and Daniel Segall have all seen action for the Deacs this season.
The Blue Ridge Open marks the final regular season meet for the Deacs, as they will take next weekend off before traveling to Clemson on Oct. 29 for the ACC Cross Country Championships.w
Players Mentioned
