Wake Forest Cross Country Opens Season on Friday
8/29/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Aug 29, 2013
By Scott Wortman, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeTrack)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's and women's cross country teams are set to open the 2013 season on Friday when the Demon Deacons host Elon and UNCG in the Wake Forest Relays.
The women's race begins at 5:30 p.m. with the men to follow at 6:15 p.m. The relay-style races will be held on campus at the cross country trails near the University Parkway entrance.
This Friday's meet is the first of three that Wake Forest will host this fall. The Deacons will host the ACC Championships on Friday, Nov. 1, at Beeson Park in Kernersville. As a preview for the conference meet, Wake Forest will also host the Wake Forest Invitational on Sept. 20 at Beeson Park.
In a vote by the league's head coaches, both the Demon Deacon men's and women's squads were picked to finish ninth in the 15-team ACC this season. The men received 81 points, while the women received 102 points in the preseason poll.
The Wake Forest men return 12 runners off last season's squad that finished seventh at the ACC Championships. Sophomore Kent Garrett and junior Connor Crowley headline the list of returners as the only two underclassmen to compete at the ACCs and NCAA Regionals last season.
The Deacon women return 10 runners from last year's team which finished eighth at the ACC Championships. Two-time All-ACC recipient Nicole Irving returns for her senior season on campus. Irving finished eighth overall at the 2012 ACC meet and then earned NCAA All-Region honors with a 13th-place finish at the Southeast Regional.
Wake Forest returns five of its six runners who competed in the ACCs and NCAA Regionals last season. In addition to Irving, the Deacons also welcome back juniors Kaitlyn Oliver and Aubrey Waggoner and sophomores Ashley Brubaker, Kathleen Darling and Meredith Kilburn.
Players Mentioned
