Demon Deacons Poised for Virginia Invitational

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In a field that features 14 of the top 28 teams nationally, the Wake Forest men's cross country program will face its first true test of the 2023 campaign Saturday when the Demon Deacons travel to Charlottesville, Va. to compete at the Virginia Invitational.

The men's 8k is slated to start at 8:45 a.m. ET, and live results can be found HERE.

Need to Know
Virginia Invitational
Sat., Sept. 23, 2023 - 8:45 a.m.
Charlottesville, Va. - Panorama Farms

Racing for the Deacs

Stacked Field
Six of the top 10 teams nationally will compete at Saturday's meet, including the defending national champions, Northern Arizona. Overall, 18 of the 22 teams running Saturday are either ranked or receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA Coaches Poll.

Ranked Teams Competing

Rank	Team
1	Northern Arizona
3	BYU
4	Stanford
6	North Carolina
7	Colorado
10	Virginia
11	Syracuse
12	Villanova
17	Air Force
18	Washington
19	Butler
25	Princeton
27	Iowa State
28	Michigan

FloTrack Top 255 Recognition
Wake Forest has four runners ranked in FloTrack's DI NCAA cross country men's individual rankings entering the 2023 season, including freshmen Rocky Hansen and Hunter Jones.

Rank	Name
25	Luke Tewalt
80	Rocky Hansen
120	Hunter Jones
212	Rynard Swanepoel

Returning to Panorama Farms
Saturday will mark the first time Wake Forest will return to Panorama Farms since winning last year's ACC Men's Cross Country Championship on Oct. 28, 2022.

2022 Season Highlights

The Wake Forest men's cross country team placed fifth at the NCAA Championships a year ago, marking the program's highest championship finish since 1989.
- Zach Facioni became the first, and only, three-time All-American in program history.
- Luke Tewalt and Aaron Las Heras also earned All-American honors.
The Demon Deacons won the ACC Cross Country Championship for the first time since 1994.
- The title marked the fifth in program history.
  - Wake Forest had its best performance of the 2022 campaign, as the Deacs finished 42 points ahead of second-place Syracuse to secure the league title.
  - At the ACC Championships, Aaron Las Heras (third), Luke Tewalt (fourth), Thomas Vanoppen (fifth) and Zach Facioni (eighth) all garnered All-ACC honors and finished in the top eight.
Despite coasting to a third place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional, the Demon Deacons had four runners earn All-Region honors (Tewalt, Facioni, Las Heras and Vanoppen).

The Hayes Era
Since arriving at Wake Forest in 2016, director of track & field and cross country John Hayes has returned the men's cross country program to prominence. Under Hayes, the Demon Deacons improved their finish at the ACC Championships from 14th in 2015, to winning the league title in 2022 and from 23rd at the Southeast Regional in 2015, to winning the Southeast Region in 2021.

Last season, Hayes coached three All-Americans including Facioni, the first three-time All-American in program history. Hayes also coached four All-ACC runners, which tied the program record for the most all-conference selections in a single season.

Prior to Hayes' arrival, Wake Forest had gone over a decade without making an NCAA Championship appearance. Of note, the Demon Deacons have now made an appearance at the NCAA Championships in three-consecutive seasons under Hayes' direction.

Over his 20-plus year coaching career, Hayes has led his teams to 12 NCAA Division I cross country championship appearances.

Up Next
The Wake Forest men will return to action on Oct. 6 when they travel to Charlotte for the Royals XC Challenge, while the women are slated to resume competition next week (Sept. 30) at the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa.

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Players Mentioned

Gavin Ehlers

Zach Facioni

Rocky Hansen

Hunter Jones

Jackson Keefer

Andrew Kivett

Aaron Las Heras

Weber Long

Joe O'Brien

Rynard Swanepoel

Luke Tewalt

Thomas Vanoppen

Wake Forest Athletics