BLACKSBURG, Va. — The NC State women from Raleigh, N.C., are heading home with another conference trophy after winning the ACC Cross Country Championship on Friday, Oct. 30, at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course. It is the ninth league crown for the Wolfpack women in the last 10 seasons and the 30th in program history.
Fifth-year runner Hannah Gapes ran away with the individual race, covering the 6K in 18:23.8. That beat the old course mark by 90 seconds and the ACC meet record by nearly 40 seconds, and she finished 30.2 seconds clear of the next runner. Gapes kept her season unbeaten and became the eighth straight NC State woman to claim the individual ACC title.
The team totaled 65 points, 48 better than runner-up Clemson. Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Duke finished third through fifth. Four Wolfpack runners landed in the top 20 and earned All-ACC honors: Gapes in first, Bethany Michalak in seventh, 2025 champion Angelina Napoleon in 14th and Emily Wisniewski in 20th.
The title is the 11th ACC team championship under head coach Laurie Henes. On the men’s side, NC State placed 12th in the 8K with 333 points as Wake Forest won the team race.
The race was fast across the board. Each of the first 10 finishers also went under the previous course record. Clemson was paced by Silvia Jelelgo in second, Judy Kosgei in fifth and Nancy Cherop in sixth, and Cherop was the top true freshman in the women’s race.
In the men’s team race, Wake Forest scored 48 points to take its third title in five years, and Louisville runner Elsingi Kipruto won the individual crown in 22:03.5.
Next up for the Wolfpack is the NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday, Nov. 13, in Spartanburg, S.C.
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