Wake Forest Athletics
Cross Country Heads to Charlotte for NCAA Regional Meet
11/8/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Nov. 8, 2012
Live Results | Regional Championship Info
By Maggie Cancelosi, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@SIDeacons)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Coming off the ACC Championships just two weeks ago, the Wake Forest cross country teams will compete Friday afternoon at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Charlotte, N.C.
The meet will take place on the historic McAlpine Creek Park, with the women's 6k race set to begin at noon, followed by the men's 10k race at 1:15 p.m. This meet will mark the first time all season that the men's squad has competed in a distance other than 8,000 meters.
The NCAA Cross Country regional meets are comprised of nine different regions across the country and the top two teams from each region will advance automatically to the NCAA Championships hosted in Louisville, Ky on Nov. 17.
Individuals that place highly enough in the regional meets can also advance to the NCAA Championships regardless of whether their team has already qualified for the event.
As the premier event in the Southeast, Wake Forest is set to compete against 41 women's teams and 38 men's teams.
The Deacon men and women are coming off seventh-place and eighth-place finishes respectively, at the ACC Championships that took place in Blacksburg, Va., on Oct. 27.
Leading the men's squad, are seniors and Garret Drogosch and Nate Guthals. At last year's NCAA Southeast Regional meet, Drogosch tallied a 37th-place finish overall in a time of 31:10.4 on the 10k course, while Guthals finished second on the team and 81st overall in a time of 32:11.8.
Most recently, Guthals placed first for the Deacs and 31st overall at the ACC Championships after crossing the line at 24:45.9. Earlier this season at the Blue Ridge Open, the Littleton, Colo. native placed first for the Deacs and second overall with a personal-best mark of 24:39.65.
Seniors Tom Finneran and Jake Graham who had solid races in the ACC Championships, are two of the top runners in the field for Wake Forest. Finneran (25:10.7) was the third Deacon to cross the finish line at the conference meet, followed by Graham (25:19.4).
Junior Alexander Rose will race in his third meet of the season after overcoming a knee injury. Rose marked his best time of the season, 25:00.07, at the Blue Ridge Open. At the ACC Championships meet, the Brisbane, Australia native finished seventh for the squad after crossing the line at 25:39.3.
Freshman Kent Garrett will be racing in his first NCAA Southeast Regional meet. The Noblesville, Ind. native marked his personal-best time of 24:53.48 earlier this season at the Charlotte Invitational hosted at McAlpine Creek Park.
On the women's side, junior Nicole Irving comes into the meet after running a great race at the ACC Championships on Oct. 27. Irving clocked a mark of 20:30.6 to secure eighth place at the ACC Championships meet. She has finished first for the Deacs in all four events this season.
Finishing eighth overall, the Ballston Lake, N.Y. native recorded her personal-best time and earned All-ACC honors for her second consecutive year. At last year's NCAA Southeast Regional, Irving finished 14th overall in a time of 20:42.4 on the 6k course.
Freshmen trio Ashley Brubaker, Kathleen Darling and Meredith Kilburn will be racing in their first NCAA Southeast Regional meet. At the ACC Championships, Brubaker was the second Deacon to cross the line and finished in 42nd place at 21:50.2. Brubaker has finished second for the Deacs in three out of the four most recent meets.
Brubaker was followed by Darling (22:24.1) and Kilburn (23:38.8), who finished fourth and sixth for the team, respectively, at the ACC Championships.
Sophomore duo Kaitlyn Oliver and Aubrey Waggoner will be racing on Friday as well. Oliver will be racing in her second meet for the squad, while Waggoner will be marking her sixth race of the season.
At last year's NCAA Southeast Regional meet, Oliver finished fifth on the team in 22:47.6, and Waggoner finished sixth in 24:12.5.
Players Mentioned
