Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Cross Country Seeks to Build on ACC Finish
11/23/2020 1:31:00 PM | Cross Country, Les Johns
Due to COVID-19, the cross country season has been expanded into the spring.
The Wake Forest men's cross country team set an aggressive goal, refused to relent against obstacles, and now hopes to parlay a strong finish in the ACC Championships into an NCAA Championship appearance in mid-March.
The Demon Deacons took third place in the ACC Championships at WakeMed Park in Cary, N.C. last month — their best finish since 2001.
"It was incredible," redshirt sophomore Carter Coughlin said. "It was the best feeling after we finished. We came into the meet wanting to get third. That was our goal. Then with everything happening this year, we stuck to the goal, but thought it might be more of a reach.
"We had a good squad and have had really good training. We entered competition feeling really good."
Director of Track & Field and Cross Country John Hayes had set a goal for the program to finish in the top three this season, but that became a bit more challenging as some of the top runners normally at his disposal were still scattered across the globe.
"It's pretty exciting," Hayes said. "It shows what we've seen coming for a long time. It's been a process, but more coaches around the country and the media are starting to recognize that we're a very strong program at this point. And we've accomplished this without some of our tops guys.
"Part of it is recruiting, though there was talent when we first got here. It's largely a cultural shift in the program. The guys want to be good and are willing to do all the things necessary as students and athletes."
Two of the presumed top five Wake Forest runners, Zach Facioni and Aaron Las Heras, weren't able to be back for the ACC Championships but should be back on campus in January. Facioni owns the Wake Forest record in the 7K and is an All-ACC performer. Las Heras is a European Champion at 5000M.
"We knew going in that we would be without Zach and Aaron, and Joaquin (Martinez de Pinillos) got hurt in Flagstaff (Arizona)," Hayes said. "We knew we would need people to step up in order to be successful in the ACC Championships. We had gotten up to fifth the previous two years. We wouldn't have considered that a successful run this year, and we really wouldn't have been happy with fourth. We wanted to be first, second or third, and feel like we could compete for a conference title a year from now.
"We didn't know who would be our fifth man. It ended up being Ben Mitchell. He came up huge for us and finished 19th. That allowed us to beat UVA."
According to Coughlin, the Deacs wanted to have five runners finish in the top 30. Coughlin finished fifth, Jonathan Velasco 12th, Ben Mitchell 19th, Coen Roberts 20th and Jack Tiernan 31st.
"Our fifth guy was 31st, so it all pretty much went according to plan," Coughlin said. "It was about staying patient through the race."
Coughlin steadily progressed toward the front during the race, moving from 34th to 22nd, then to 10th, eventually finishing fifth.
"I progressed pretty much how I was planning," he said. "I knew it was a deep field, and I love the course. It's really hilly. I was slowly passing people. When I came around the turn, I thought I was about 20th. Then I made the turn to go up the hill where you can see all the way to the top.
"I'm pretty close to the front. I had no clue. Then it was just finding the strength to drive up the hill. Thankfully I was the one doing the passing and not the one being passed."
Velasco finished 68th a season ago.
"We were really happy with it," he said about the team finish. "We expected to be in the top two-or-three. I was really excited. I'd had good training entering into the event.
"We did well even being without two of our top five runners. Going into it, I thought I had the potential to win the race. I got aggressive at around the 5K mark, and paid the price later on in the race."
The program learned in September that their performance in the ACC Championships would be a main driver in determining who is included in the NCAA Championship, which is scheduled for March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. That meant Hayes and his staff had to scramble to put together the best group possible, while dealing with some of his top runners still training in Spain, Australia, Flagstaff and San Diego.
"It was a total team effort, from the administration down," Hayes said. "We had to go through some steps to get some of the kids back who were studying online away from Winston-Salem throughout the semester. We had to get them back safely, going through Covid tests. The whole time, we were training them online and over the phone, while the young men here were setting the tone. There were steps all the way from the athletic director to all the guys who were here and involved in the process working hard."
The normal progression would be: conference championships, regionals and then NCAA Championship, but this year the regionals are being skipped and the NCAA Championship is in the spring semester instead of late in the fall. The Deacs will look to compete a couple more times before the NCAA Championship in March.
"It puts us in a very good position," Hayes said about the finish in the ACC Championships. "With how powerful the ACC is, I find it difficult to see how they would keep us from the NCAA Championships at this point. Plus, we're going to compete later at Florida State on Feb. 5 and we'll add some more guys to our lineup. That will make us a stronger club and put together an even better resume. We can't not race until March 15, however, so we're going to solidify our positioning."
Despite all the obstacles, having the chance to compete and excel has made it all worthwhile for the Wake Forest Cross Country staff and student-athletes.
"It's impressive the amount of testing Wake Forest and the ACC has done to allow this to take place," Hayes said. "All the school has done to put us in this position is just unbelievable. It's exciting. As difficult as it's been, our student-athletes have had an incredible experience thus far getting to participate in the ACC Championships."
Players Mentioned
