The guy from London has arrived. That was his first. To finish 6th for his fist meet is awesome against stiff competition. It appears the freshmen class for both the women's and men's team have a lot of potential. They are going to get better as they continue to run in each meet. A job well done. Go Heels!
UNC Track & Field/Cross Country 2025-2026
- Thread starter LakeHeel
- Start date
In Chicago today
Entries
The women's Field
The Men's Field
Entries
The women's Field
- No. 30 Boston College
- Florida State
- Gonzaga (RV)
- Indiana
- Louisville
- Loyola
- No. 29 Minnesota
- No. 18 North Carolina
- No. 2 NC State
- Santa Clara
- Toledo
- No. 11 Washington
- No. 21 Wisconsin
- No. 26 Northwestern
- No. 7 Providence
- Cal Poly
The Men's Field
- Boston College
- Florida State
- Indiana
- Louisville
- Loyola
- Minnesota
- No. 16 North Carolina
- NC State
- Santa Clara
- Toledo
- No. 24 Washington
- No. 7 Wisconsin
- Providence
- Cal Poly
Probably our best real picture of these teams will come tomorrow. Both technically unranked now.
goheels.com
XC Readies For Friday's Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational - University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina cross country has one more regular-season race before the postseason starts at the end of October.
Well...the picture for the women's team is either they are dealing with injuries or have elected to redshirt. We only ran 6 and finished 19th. The bright side is this was the debut for Sjoberg who finished 6th.
From the Stride Report's preseason projection of our lineup, we did have 5 of the 7, no Kleingbeil and no Dalton.
The girls that ran the first two meets and haven't run either of the last 2 are Castelli, Rupe, and Dalton. Castelli beat Gardiner who finished 4th on the team today in both of the first 2 meets, if Castelli had run and finished alongside Gardiner we would've finished 11th and that would've been perfectly respectable and a good set up for picking up wins towards nationals.
Alas, there's a lot of pressure now on ACCs to get those missing wins and Regionals to make them not matter.
From the Stride Report's preseason projection of our lineup, we did have 5 of the 7, no Kleingbeil and no Dalton.
The girls that ran the first two meets and haven't run either of the last 2 are Castelli, Rupe, and Dalton. Castelli beat Gardiner who finished 4th on the team today in both of the first 2 meets, if Castelli had run and finished alongside Gardiner we would've finished 11th and that would've been perfectly respectable and a good set up for picking up wins towards nationals.
Alas, there's a lot of pressure now on ACCs to get those missing wins and Regionals to make them not matter.
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Great analysis, thank you. There are so many names on the team logging counting scores that I do not recognize right now. Hope we fan find that last one or two healthy runners to log a respectable number.
Our weakest scorer finished in 182nd, and the non-scorer was just behind in 187. There were only 206 women on the 6 woman teams so those two were way towards the back. While this field is super strong, (16 ranked teams) there were a few non-competitive teams in it.
The teams are relatively young, especially the women's team. You have a lot of freshmen and sophomores that are running right now. The women's team has no senior leadership like in the past. This was Sjoberg first meet as well as her first time running with the young ladies on our team. She does have experience, but she is a newcomer to our team. The girls team lost a lot last year and so did the men. Chris is going to have to find some stud freshmen to come in next year to help or through the transfer portal for both teams. As someone stated earlier, only having six to run today means they are hurt or sick. They did pretty good under the circumstances.
ACC Cross Country championships are this Friday (Halloween!)
women at 9:30 AM and the men are at 10:30 AM
This should be on the ACC Network, though it is not listed as of yet.
The UNC Women have dropped out of the Top 30, around 34th in the others receiving votes category.
ACC teams that are ranked:
UNC started the preseason 13th but has yet to run a full roster of the expected contributors.
women at 9:30 AM and the men are at 10:30 AM
This should be on the ACC Network, though it is not listed as of yet.
The UNC Women have dropped out of the Top 30, around 34th in the others receiving votes category.
ACC teams that are ranked:
- 2 NCSU
- 5 ND
- 13 Stanford
- 15 UVA
- 28 WF
- 30 BC
- ORV dook (31)
- ORV FSU (32)
- ORV cuse (34)
- ORV UNC (35)
- ORV Clem (37)
UNC started the preseason 13th but has yet to run a full roster of the expected contributors.
Just as a reminder. the Cross Country NCAA Championship finals is earned by getting a top 2 finish in one of the 9 regionals, or an at-large invite as one of the 14 best remaining teams.
At-large berths are decided by a matrix of factors, tops being performance at regional (3rd and 4th place teams are most likely to earn a bid.) the second biggest factor is regular season "points" earned by logging wins against the NCAA Finals field.
We will be in the Southeast regional where currently we are ranked:
So the women have a massive hill to climb. Automatic bid (top 2) seems highly unlikely and really need a top 5 finish a a resurgence into the polls probably to make the NCAA Finals.
For the men:
So the men are on the bubble on paper right now, but a great showing at the ACC s (and regionals) could help.
As per usual, the southeast region is a tough place to be.
At-large berths are decided by a matrix of factors, tops being performance at regional (3rd and 4th place teams are most likely to earn a bid.) the second biggest factor is regular season "points" earned by logging wins against the NCAA Finals field.
We will be in the Southeast regional where currently we are ranked:
Southeast Region -- Women
| RANK | TEAM CONFERENCE | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NC STATE ACC | |
| 2 | VIRGINIA ACC | |
| 3 | SOUTH CAROLINA SEC | |
| 4 | WAKE FOREST ACC | |
| 5 | CLEMSON ACC | |
| 6 | DUKE ACC | |
| 7 | VIRGINIA TECH ACC | |
| 8 | NORTH CAROLINA ACC | |
| 9 | LIBERTY Conference USA | |
| 10 | KENTUCKY SEC |
So the women have a massive hill to climb. Automatic bid (top 2) seems highly unlikely and really need a top 5 finish a a resurgence into the polls probably to make the NCAA Finals.
For the men:
Southeast Region -- Men
| RANK | TEAM CONFERENCE | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | VIRGINIA ACC | |
| 2 | WAKE FOREST ACC | |
| 3 | VIRGINIA TECH ACC | |
| 4 | NORTH CAROLINA ACC | |
| 5 | LOUISVILLE ACC | |
| 6 | EASTERN KENTUCKY ASUN | |
| 7 | FURMAN SoCon | |
| 8 | KENTUCKY SEC | |
| 9 | CHARLOTTE American | |
| 10 | DUKE ACC |
So the men are on the bubble on paper right now, but a great showing at the ACC s (and regionals) could help.
As per usual, the southeast region is a tough place to be.
The article is unlocked but doesn't name any athletes or reasons:
BREAKING: Multiple Iowa State Athletes Suspended for Season for "Breaking Team Rules," Confirmed via Head Coach Jeremy Sudbury
Looks like as of today, the women's team has 1 "point" for selection with a win over Syracuse. If every other finish in regionals is to ranking, UNC would need to come 5th in regionals and that would be enough.
The men are in the same situation with 1 "point" over Georgetown, though they currently would be team #27 so there would be some breathing space.
Teams that are currently projected to qualify in the ACC (Beating them this week would be worth a point when the team is added to the field):
Women:
Men: Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Stanford
Women: Notre Dame, Boston College, Syracuse, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Clemson, Stanford
The men are in the same situation with 1 "point" over Georgetown, though they currently would be team #27 so there would be some breathing space.
Teams that are currently projected to qualify in the ACC (Beating them this week would be worth a point when the team is added to the field):
Women:
Men: Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Stanford
Women: Notre Dame, Boston College, Syracuse, NC State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Clemson, Stanford
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As per usual, your understanding of how the NCAA works is off the charts. thank you for this info!
So this may be a game changer for UNC Women's Cross Country. Apparently Brynn Brown has been granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA and will run in the ACC Championships on Friday???
She is not even listed on the UNC roster this season as she graduated last year, but I assume she just won a medical redshirt claim or something similar. (her only race in 2023 was the season opener) The post above seems pretty definitive and her story today shown her in KY for the ACCC.
Brown was All-American last season (finished 38th at the championships) and All-ACC (finished 8th) making her one of our top 2 runners. but who knows what kind of shape she is in right now.
Adding her and Sjoberg (Nuttycomb was her first race and she finished 6th) and just maybe this team can vault up to a higher level than what their prior performance indicates?
She is not even listed on the UNC roster this season as she graduated last year, but I assume she just won a medical redshirt claim or something similar. (her only race in 2023 was the season opener) The post above seems pretty definitive and her story today shown her in KY for the ACCC.
Brown was All-American last season (finished 38th at the championships) and All-ACC (finished 8th) making her one of our top 2 runners. but who knows what kind of shape she is in right now.
Adding her and Sjoberg (Nuttycomb was her first race and she finished 6th) and just maybe this team can vault up to a higher level than what their prior performance indicates?
Yeah, hopefully the girls who did not run at Nuttycomb will be back from sickness or health related issues as well. If our women are at full strength then maybe they can have a better showing at the ACC Championships. The question will be what kind of shape is she in?
Registered Runners:
Women
Brynn Brown (Has not run this year, 2nd on team at 2024 ACCs, 1st on team at 2024 Regionals, 2nd on team at 2024 NCAAs)
Maddie Gardiner (#4 in Charlotte, #5 at NCSU, #2 in Chicago, #4 at Nuttycombe, DNR last year)
Ciara O'Shea (DNR in Charlotte, #1 at NCSU, #1 in Chicago, #2 at Nuttycombe, #6 at 2024 ACCs, #4 at 2024 Regionals, #5 at 2024 NCAAs)
Hannah Rae Shaffer (DNR in Charlotte, #6 at NCSU, DNR in Chicago, #5 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Vera Sjoberg (DNR in Charlotte, DNR at NCSU, DNR in Chicago, #1 at Nuttycombe, would've been #3 at 2024 NCAAs)
Logan St. John-Kletter (#1 in Charlotte, #2 at NCSU, #4 in Chicago, #3 at Nuttycombe, #7 at 2024 ACCs, #6 at 2024 Regionals, #6 at 2024 NCAAs)
Kinley Wolfe (#6 in Charlotte, #7 at NCSU, #3 in Chicago, #6 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
I think this officially confirms the women have been dealing with injury issues. It appears you can register up to 10, we're only taking 7. Those that have vanished as the season has gone on are Libby Castelli (#2 in Charlotte, #3 at NCSU), Reese Dalton (#3 in Charlotte, #8 at NCSU), Katelyn Rupe (#5 in Charlotte, #4 at NCSU).
Our preseason projected 7 (#17 team) by Stride Report were Sjoberg (Should be 1 or 2 at ACCs), Klingbeil (Not rostered), St. John-Kletter (Likely #4), O'Shea (Likely #3), Gardiner (Likely #5), Dalton (Hurt?), Rae Shaffer (Likely #6).
One final piece of context, Brown finished 10th at the 2024 Nuttycombe, let's pretend she were slightly out of shape this year and ran alongside O'Shea who finished 55th. The points move in making that a score and removing Shaffer's would've had the women going from around 19th to around 9th.
We'll look for them to cross the line: Sjoberg, Brown, O'Shea, St. John-Kletter, Gardiner, Rae Shaffer, Wolfe)
Men
Joe Barrett (DNR Charlotte, #1 at NCSU, #7 in Chicago, #3 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Jack Bowen (DNR Charlotte, DNR at NCSU, #4 in Chicago, #4 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Gitch Hayes (#3 Charlotte, DNR NCSU, DNR Chicago, DNR Nuttycombe, DNR 2024)
Jacob Laney (#5 Charlotte, DNR NCSU, DNR Chicago, DNR Nuttycombe, #6 2024 ACCs, #7 2024 Regionals, #7 2024 NCAAs)
Tommy Latham (DNR Charlotte, #7 NCSU, #3 Chicago, #6 Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Aiden Neal (#1 Charlotte, #2 NCSU, DNR Chicago, #5 Nuttycombe, DNR 2024 postseason)
Luke Pash (Has not raced yet)
Colton Sands (DNR Charlotte, #3 NCSU, #1 Chicago, #1 Nuttycombe, #3 2024 ACCs, #3 2024 Regionals, #3 2024 NCAAs)
Joe Sapone (#4 Charlotte, DNR NCSU, #6 Chicago, #7 Nuttycombe, DNS 2024 ACCs, #6 2024 Regionals, #6 2024 NCAAs)
Tomer Tarragano (DNR Charlotte, #5 NCSU, #2 Chicago, #2 Nuttycombe, in UK in 2024)
Really weird set of results now that I've finally gone through them and mapped them out. Some folks that disappeared:
Max Murphy (#2 Charlotte, #7 at 2024 ACCs, Previously 69th at NCAAs for Iowa in 2023)
Will Coogan (DNR Charlotte, #4 NCSU, DNR Chicago, DNR Nuttycombe, #4 2024 ACCs, #4 2024 Regionals, #4 2024 NCAAs)
Chasen Hunt (DNR Charlotte, #6 NCSU, #5 Chicago, DNF Nuttycombe)
Patrick Anderson (#5 2024 ACCs, #5 2024 Regionals, #5 2024 NCAAs)
Our preseason projected 7 (#16 team) by Stride Report were Sands (#1 expected at ACCs), Tarragano (#2), Hunt (Not racing, Hurt at Nuttycombe?), Coogan (Not Racing, likely injured at Chicago where he ran 1KM and dropped), Anderson (Appears to have retired after last year's awesome comeback from his 2023 car crash that Coogan was also involved in), Barrett (#3?), Sapone (...#5?).
Looking at expectations and results, I think we can expect them to cross the line Sands, Tarragano...then it gets very blurry maybe:
Barrett
Bowen
Sapone
Neal
Latham
Hayes
Laney
Pash
Women
Brynn Brown (Has not run this year, 2nd on team at 2024 ACCs, 1st on team at 2024 Regionals, 2nd on team at 2024 NCAAs)
Maddie Gardiner (#4 in Charlotte, #5 at NCSU, #2 in Chicago, #4 at Nuttycombe, DNR last year)
Ciara O'Shea (DNR in Charlotte, #1 at NCSU, #1 in Chicago, #2 at Nuttycombe, #6 at 2024 ACCs, #4 at 2024 Regionals, #5 at 2024 NCAAs)
Hannah Rae Shaffer (DNR in Charlotte, #6 at NCSU, DNR in Chicago, #5 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Vera Sjoberg (DNR in Charlotte, DNR at NCSU, DNR in Chicago, #1 at Nuttycombe, would've been #3 at 2024 NCAAs)
Logan St. John-Kletter (#1 in Charlotte, #2 at NCSU, #4 in Chicago, #3 at Nuttycombe, #7 at 2024 ACCs, #6 at 2024 Regionals, #6 at 2024 NCAAs)
Kinley Wolfe (#6 in Charlotte, #7 at NCSU, #3 in Chicago, #6 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
I think this officially confirms the women have been dealing with injury issues. It appears you can register up to 10, we're only taking 7. Those that have vanished as the season has gone on are Libby Castelli (#2 in Charlotte, #3 at NCSU), Reese Dalton (#3 in Charlotte, #8 at NCSU), Katelyn Rupe (#5 in Charlotte, #4 at NCSU).
Our preseason projected 7 (#17 team) by Stride Report were Sjoberg (Should be 1 or 2 at ACCs), Klingbeil (Not rostered), St. John-Kletter (Likely #4), O'Shea (Likely #3), Gardiner (Likely #5), Dalton (Hurt?), Rae Shaffer (Likely #6).
One final piece of context, Brown finished 10th at the 2024 Nuttycombe, let's pretend she were slightly out of shape this year and ran alongside O'Shea who finished 55th. The points move in making that a score and removing Shaffer's would've had the women going from around 19th to around 9th.
We'll look for them to cross the line: Sjoberg, Brown, O'Shea, St. John-Kletter, Gardiner, Rae Shaffer, Wolfe)
Men
Joe Barrett (DNR Charlotte, #1 at NCSU, #7 in Chicago, #3 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Jack Bowen (DNR Charlotte, DNR at NCSU, #4 in Chicago, #4 at Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Gitch Hayes (#3 Charlotte, DNR NCSU, DNR Chicago, DNR Nuttycombe, DNR 2024)
Jacob Laney (#5 Charlotte, DNR NCSU, DNR Chicago, DNR Nuttycombe, #6 2024 ACCs, #7 2024 Regionals, #7 2024 NCAAs)
Tommy Latham (DNR Charlotte, #7 NCSU, #3 Chicago, #6 Nuttycombe, 2025 Frosh)
Aiden Neal (#1 Charlotte, #2 NCSU, DNR Chicago, #5 Nuttycombe, DNR 2024 postseason)
Luke Pash (Has not raced yet)
Colton Sands (DNR Charlotte, #3 NCSU, #1 Chicago, #1 Nuttycombe, #3 2024 ACCs, #3 2024 Regionals, #3 2024 NCAAs)
Joe Sapone (#4 Charlotte, DNR NCSU, #6 Chicago, #7 Nuttycombe, DNS 2024 ACCs, #6 2024 Regionals, #6 2024 NCAAs)
Tomer Tarragano (DNR Charlotte, #5 NCSU, #2 Chicago, #2 Nuttycombe, in UK in 2024)
Really weird set of results now that I've finally gone through them and mapped them out. Some folks that disappeared:
Max Murphy (#2 Charlotte, #7 at 2024 ACCs, Previously 69th at NCAAs for Iowa in 2023)
Will Coogan (DNR Charlotte, #4 NCSU, DNR Chicago, DNR Nuttycombe, #4 2024 ACCs, #4 2024 Regionals, #4 2024 NCAAs)
Chasen Hunt (DNR Charlotte, #6 NCSU, #5 Chicago, DNF Nuttycombe)
Patrick Anderson (#5 2024 ACCs, #5 2024 Regionals, #5 2024 NCAAs)
Our preseason projected 7 (#16 team) by Stride Report were Sands (#1 expected at ACCs), Tarragano (#2), Hunt (Not racing, Hurt at Nuttycombe?), Coogan (Not Racing, likely injured at Chicago where he ran 1KM and dropped), Anderson (Appears to have retired after last year's awesome comeback from his 2023 car crash that Coogan was also involved in), Barrett (#3?), Sapone (...#5?).
Looking at expectations and results, I think we can expect them to cross the line Sands, Tarragano...then it gets very blurry maybe:
Barrett
Bowen
Sapone
Neal
Latham
Hayes
Laney
Pash
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Women 7th at the 1k split, 3rd at the 3k. No chance to catch NCSU/Notre Dame, but wins over BC, Syracuse, FSU, UVA, Wake, Clemson, Duke, VT, and Stanford could all theoretically matter
Gardiner moving up a ton at 5k gives us some breathing room in 3rd
Pretty clean 3rd place finish, that will be worth a good number of wins, we should be in a good place as long as we don't come in like 6th at regionals.
If Brown hadn't come, we'd have been right on the border line between 5th and 6th, losing theoretical wins over Stanford and UVA.
If Brown hadn't come, we'd have been right on the border line between 5th and 6th, losing theoretical wins over Stanford and UVA.
Women 6k
| Pl | Team | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | [6] | [7] | Total [Avg] | Spread | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
| NC State | 28 | 1 A Napoleon 19:13.9 | 4 G Hartman 19:16.9 | 5 H Gapes 19:24.4 | 8 B Michalak 19:35.4 | 10 S Engelhardt 19:45.5 | 12 B Rauber 19:50.3 | 25 F Templier 20:10.4 | 1:37:15 [19:27] | 0:31 |
| 2 |
| Notre Dame | 89 | 2 M Dalton 19:14.9 | 16 A Aramini 19:56.2 | 19 S Chisholm 20:00.5 | 22 S Novak 20:07.8 | 30 G Farley 20:13.1 | 32 A Olson 20:14.3 | 33 C Huyler 20:14.6 | 1:39:32 [19:54] | 0:58 |
| 3 |
| North Carolina | 127 | 6 V Sjoberg 19:31.2 | 14 B Brown 19:55.3 | 26 L St. John-Kletter 20:11.8 | 27 C O'Shea 20:11.9 | 54 M Gardiner 20:39.2 | 82 H Shaffer 21:04.2 | 93 K Wolfe 21:20.2 | 1:40:29 [20:05] | 1:08 |
| 4 |
| Stanford | 150 | 7 S Kennedy 19:35.4 | 23 M Scatchard 20:08.5 | 36 J Flynn 20:18.5 | 41 R Stewart 20:27.2 | 43 H Thomsen 20:28.0 | 74 J Whittaker 20:58.2 | 83 M de Brouwer 21:07.4 | 1:40:56 [20:11] | 0:53 |
| 5 |
| Virginia | 170 | 17 T David 19:56.5 | 18 G Bushee 19:59.1 | 34 S Kermes 20:15.7 | 49 E Woehlcke 20:32.8 | 52 T Olesen 20:37.4 | 58 C DeSousa 20:43.8 |
Due to a bad regular season it appears that UNC drew a bad starting position and were completely absent on the start line sprint. Our women had to pass a bunch of runners on the course to get to that 3rd spot.
The 7 guys that are 4th-10th are between 115th and 123rd, so they're running as a pack at the moment.