Sports > September 4, 2008

By Chris Tumminello | Staff writer

The Aug. 29 Wake Forest Relays marked the beginning of the Wake Forest Cross Country season. The Relays consisted of competitors Duke, Elon, High Point and Wingate. Each school had teams of two runners, with an individual student-athlete responsible for racing two nonconsecutive legs of the event.

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The Wake Forest Relays took place on campus Aug. 29 and the women’s cross country team received their second consecutive victory. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

After concluding last year with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional in Louisville, Ky., the women’s team enters this season with high expectations. The Deacons have advanced to the NCAA Championships seven of the past eight years.

The women’s team distance for each pair totaled 10 kilometers, or four 2.5-kilometer legs. The top three pairs are counted toward the team’s final score.

Head Coach Annie Bennett thinks this is the deepest women’s team she has had since 2002, and it showed at the Relays. The women’s team captured their second consecutive victory at the Wake Forest Relays while decisively earning the top two group times as well as four of the top six individual times.

The duo consisting of redshirt senior Merry Placer and redshirt junior Allie Kieffer clocked in at a time of 35:40, together locking up first place in the group performance. With a time of 37:24, freshman Dina Nosenko and sophomore Marley Burns finished second in the group performance, clenching the victory for the Deacs.

Individually, the Deacon women were just as strong with all four of the before mentioned top group performers finishing in the top 20. Other top 20 finishers included Laura Rapp (fifth), Caitlin Crawford (10th), Whitney Curry (12th), Cate Berenato (14th) and Mary Alice Howard (18th).

High Point finished second on the women’s side and Elon came in third.

The men’s team returns a core group of runners from last season’s squad that finished ninth at the NCAA Southeast Regionals and also welcomes a group of freshmen expected to contribute immediately. However, the immediate goal for Coach Bennett is to get her squad healthy.

Sophomore Greg Billington and freshman Paul Loeser finished sixth with Billington additionally earning a sixth-place individual time of 22:53.

At the Relays the men received a “no score” in the event because three total groups did not finish the 14 kilometers, or four 3.5-kilometer legs.

Duke took first on the men’s side with High Point and Elon second and third respectively.

Despite the result, Head Coach Annie Bennett was very impressed with many of her less experienced competitors.

Next up the Deacons will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the University of North Carolina Invitational on Sept. 13.

On Nov. 15, Wake Forest will host its first-ever NCAA cross country event at Tanglewood Park in Clemmons, N.C., with at least 38 teams slated to participate.