Nov. 1, 2003

Winston-Salem, N.C. - The North Carolina women's cross country team won the 2003 ACC Cross Country Championship with 40 points, four better then N.C. State's 44. The ACC title was the women's first since 1999. Senior Shalane Flanagan led the way again for UNC, as she won her fourth consecutive ACC title with a time of 19:22.8 in the 6k race. The men's team placed 8th with 183 points in the 8k race.

"Winning this meet was our number one goal," said Flanagan. "Ever since the beginning of the season this was at the forefront. Our second goal is to do well nationally, so hopefully we can do that as well."

Sophomore Carol Henry also placed well, as she finished in third with a time of 20:06.1. Sophomore Jessica Perry placed tenth with a time of 20:58.7 and freshman Meghan Owen was 12th with a time of 21:05.8

"The girls just competed so amazingly tough," said UNC coach Michael Whittlesey. "I couldn't be prouder of how the entire team competed today. Jessica Perry had a huge race for us and Carol (Henry) did her usual tremendous job. It is just so great to see this happen to the team. The girls really demonstrated why this is a team sport."

Flanagan continues to add to her impressive collegiate trophy case, as she will aim to repeat as the national champion on Nov. 24 in Waterloo, Iowa. She finished 27 seconds ahead of the next finisher in today's race and has won all three races she has been in this season. Flanagan's four ACC cross country championships is the most in the history of the conference.

"Winning all four (ACC Titles) has been a big goal for me individually," said Flanagan. "This is my last race in the ACC with cross country so it means a lot to me. Today is a really big day."

Other finishers for the Tar Heels were freshman Megan Kaltenbach, junior Erin Donohue, freshman Kristin Stroupe and junior Jennie Sucher. Kaltenbach placed 14th with a time of 21:09.0 and Donohue finished at 19th with a time of 21:20.9. Stroupe was 30th with a time of 21:42.1 and Sucher rounded out the field with a finish of 45th at a time of 22:20.3

The UNC men's team was led by junior Brian McGovern, as he finished in 17th with a time of 25:12.9. Junior Matt Sciandra was the second Tar Heel finisher at a time of 25:45.4 and a 34th place finish. Junior Matt Daly placed 40th at 25:57.0 and sophomore Rob Robertson had a time of 26:06.7, good for 45th place.

"We knew that the conference was tough from top to bottom on the men's side," said Whittlesey. "I honestly am surprised to see where we finished based on how we ran. The district meet matches up better for us, so we just need to bounce back from the way that we competed today. We have done a lot of work and the guys are doing the right things, it just didn't completely come out today."

Other UNC men's team finishers were senior Robert Borbet, junior Jesse Rappole, senior Scott Price and sophomore Pablo Durana. Borbet was 50th at 26:17.9, Rappole was 51st with a time of 26.21.1 and Price was 52nd with a time of 26.23.0. Durana finished 58th with a time of 26:50.3. N.C. State won the men's meet with 27 points.

UNC finished ahead of Duke in both the women's and men's races and therefore added two points to its lead in the Carlyle Cup. The Tar Heels are currently ahead 5.5 to 0.5 in Carlyle Cup standings.