Wake Forest Men's Cross Country

1996 Men's Cross Country Year-End Notes

Deacs Earn 11th-Place Finish at 1996 NCAA Championships
The Wake Forest men's cross country team ran to an 11th-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Cross Country Championships, placing two spots above their national ranking and, for the first time this season, defeated ACC foe N.C. State. The Wolfpack had topped the Deacs by 10 points at both the ACC and District III championships, but at the NCAAs WFU's score of 311 bettered N.C. State's 16th-place finish at 431.

Head Coach John Goodridge's team was in its seventh NCAA meet.

Russell Named All-American
Senior Jon Russell (Wakefield, Mass./St. John's) earned All-American honors for the Demon Deacons with a 20th-place finish at the NCAAs. Russell ran the 10,000-meter course in 31:25 to become the third WFU cross country All-American, the first since 1989.

During the 1996 season, Russell was twice named ACC Performer of the Week, earning victories at WFU's two home meets and tallying five top-10 finishes.

Swanson Wins First Title
Wake Forest junior Nolan Swanson (Sherman, N.Y./Central) won the individual title at the 1996 Atlantic Coast Conference cross country championships, held the morning of November 2 in College Park, Md.

Swanson ran the 8,000-meter course in 24:11.6, the fastest ACC-winning time since 1991 and thus became WFU's first-ever male individual ACC cross country champion.

N.C. State scored 30 points in victory at the 1996 ACCs; the Deacs were close behind at 40 points in the runner-up team spot.

Joining Swanson in earning all-conference honors for the Demon Deacons were Eric Dunn (Pismo Beach, Calif./Arroyo Grande) in fifth at 24:25.9, Ben Boyd (Marietta, Ga./Lassiter) in seventh at 24:31.1 and Jon Russell (Wakefield, Mass./St. John's) in ninth at 24:36.5.

Wake Forest Runs To Second At ACCs
N.C. State scored 30 points in victory at the 1996 ACCs' the Deacs were close behind at 40 points in the runner-up team spot.

Joining Swanson in earning all-conference honors for the Demon Deacons were Eric Dunn in fifth at 24:25.9, Ben Boyd in seventh at 24:31.1 and Jon Russell in ninth at 24:36.5. All four of WFU's 1996 All-ACC runners earned the honor for the second time.

Since 1989, Wake Forest and N.C. State have placed 1-2 in the ACC Championship meet, with the Demon Deacons winning titles in 1989, 1990, 1993 and 1994.