Sept. 13, 2003

Chapel Hill, N.C. - The North Carolina Men's and Women's Cross Country teams both won the UNC Cross Country Challenge at the newly named Ranson-Hamrick Course. Junior Brian McGovern finished first for the men with a time of 25:40.63 for the 8k race. Junior Erin Donohue was first in the women's 5k race with a time of 17:19.34.

Sophomore Carol Henry finished second with a time of 17:19.53. Eight UNC runners finished in the top twelve for the women and seven of the top eleven finishers for the men were from UNC. Two of UNC's top runners from the women's team, junior Alice Schmidt and senior Shalane Flanagan did not participate.

In the men's competition, the UNC Alumni finished second, Campbell University was third and St. Augustine's finished fourth in the four team meet. Campbell placed second in the women's race, with the UNC Alumni finishing third and St. Augustine's fourth.

"I couldn't be happier with what both our women's and men's team did today," said head coach Michael Whittlesey. "They went out there and competed really well as a pack. We served notice that we are going to have a great season."

Other top finishers for the UNC men were Matt Daly in fifth with a time of 25:51.56, Thomas Falvey in sixth with a time of 26:00.51, junior Jesse Rappole with a time of 26:04.99 and sophomore Rob Robertson with a time of 26:09.18. Other top finishers for the UNC women were freshman Meghan Owen in fourth place with a time of 17:53.04, freshman Megan Kaltenbach in fifth with a time of 18:07.80, freshman Kristin Stroupe in sixth with a time of 18:21.22 and junior Jennie Sucher in ninth with a time of 18:44.56.

Before the race, there was a ceremony naming the the course after former cross country coach Dale Ranson and former runner Gordon Hamrick. Ranson coached UNC from 1951-1962 and Hamrick ran for UNC from 1949-1952.

"This is a very special weekend for UNC Cross Country as we celebrate the past as well as the future," said Whittlesey. "It was meaningful to have coach Ranson's family here and Gordon Hamrick here, honoring the course in both of their names. It was great to see how many alumni came back, its very special to have that kind of support for our program."