Deacon Sports Xtra: Reliving the Deacs’ Historic Run

Deacon Sports Xtra: Reliving the Deacs’ Historic Run

1/26/2023 8:48:00 AM | Cross Country

“It was incredibly exciting and is a moment these young men will remember their whole lives. When they come back to Wake Forest in the future as an alum, they’re going to always remember that.” - John Hayes

The Wake Forest men's cross country team parlayed a dominant ACC Championship performance into a historic fifth-place finish in the NCAA Championships, capping off one of the most successful campaigns in program history.

In late-October, the Demon Deacons claimed the ACC Championship, with four runners finishing in the top eight of the event.

"It was incredibly important," said John Hayes, Wake Forest director of track & field and Cross Country. "The ACC is the most difficult and toughest conference in the NCAA for both men's and women's cross country. It's deep and strong all the way through. To beat the best, that felt really good. The guys worked hard. When I first arrived, we were 14th out of 15 in the ACC. Things have changed and it felt really good. The guys were excited."

"I like to tell the guys that it's my job to create moments. That's a moment in their life that they will always remember."

Wake Forest runners Aaron Las Heras, Luke Tewalt, Thomas Vanoppen and Zach Facioni all finished in the top eight of the event, and five other Deacs placed within the top-60: Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos, Ben Mitchell, Weber Long, Daniel Winter and Rynard Swanepoel. The Deacs finished a massive 42 points ahead of second-place Syracuse to claim the title.

"We didn't just win — we dominated that meet," Hayes said. "To do it the way we did was wild. When Zach got here, it was cool to see a Wake Forest guy in the top-10. You didn't see that. You really weren't seeing a Wake Forest cross country guy in the top-30. Zach was the first guy to be in the top-10, then we started seeing a second guy a few years ago in Jack Tiernan."

"At one time in this championship, we had five guys across the front. That just made a statement to everybody. Joaquin faded a bit, but we placed four in the top eight. To place four in the top eight in the strongest conference in the country, it's not like we did it in some rinky-dink competition. It was incredibly exciting and is a moment these young men will remember their whole lives. When they come back to Wake Forest in the future as an alum, they're going to always remember that."

Entering the Southeast Regionals as the No. 7 team in the country two weeks later, the Deacs realized they didn't have to claim first place to advance to the national championships just seven days later, but Hayes was still less-than-pleased with the work on the track that day.

"To me, I wanted our guys together in showing power and force," Hayes explained. "We knew we didn't have to win the meet. We could have maybe gotten fifth and still advanced, because we did want to conserve some energy for the following week at nationals. It is two 10K races in back-to-back weeks. That's a difficult thing. Some of the guys wanted to run as easy as possible, but I wanted them to be together so we distributed that ease together as a group."

"We had two up front who were doing more work than I wanted them to. The tactics are really important. We weren't concerned about winning the Southeast Championship, which is really just a semifinal for the national championship. We just have to do things in a Wake Forest way — the right way, showing power and class in how we do things, moving together as a group. Our team is so important. We're a team. We win together and we lose together."

Hayes explained why running as a team is important for his squad.

"It comes out in several ways," he said. "It's just easier psychologically to run a race beside guys you train with every day, moving through the pack with you. It doesn't take as much psychological effort if you have one of your guys wearing the same uniform next to you. Then, you can be buried with no Wake Forest guys around you — that's running for the team."

That came to fruition just one week later in the NCAA Championships, as the Demon Deacons had three runners place in the top-26 en route to a fifth-place finish. Zach Facioni (20), Luke Tewalt (22) and Aaron Las Heras (26) all earned All-American honors for their effort, while other Deacs battled illness to finish in a manner that allowed the highest team finish for Wake Forest since 1989.

"They fought for 10,000 meters and didn't give up because it meant something to them," Hayes said. "Being a distance runner in a field like that, you can kind of get lost. It's a big-time psychological race. You have to be able to find the motivation to take the next step and keep pushing and pushing. The guys did that, and it's a credit to their character and belief in the Wake Forest system."

Despite losing a bevy of talented seniors, Hayes is confident in the foundation that's been built in the Wake Forest cross country program the last seven seasons.

"We'll lose five out of the seven (who ran in nationals)," Hayes said. "Luke and Rynard will be the two returning next year. We have a ton of great freshmen who redshirted this season and a great recruiting class arriving in the fall. How quickly we get back into the top five and challenging for a national championship is the only variable. We will get there. Next year we'll only be as good as these young men develop, and they have to develop quickly."

"Think of an offensive lineman in football — they usually aren't ready to contribute as a freshman, and it's largely the same for a distance runner. There are very few freshman distance runners who make the top-100 in the NCAA. Every year you may see two of them. But if we do the same work over the next few years, we will be challenging for a national championship again."