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NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Virginia Tech men’s cross country team moved up two spots to a season-high fourth in the latest Southeast regional rankings, as announced by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) today. The Hokie women remained in the fifth position in the regional rankings for the second consecutive week.

The Hokie men and women are each coming off a team title at the Charlotte Invitational on Friday. The men scored 35 points to better 34 teams in the field, finishing 51 points clear of second place Liberty. The Hokies took four out of the top eight places and five out of the top-12, including spots four through six, as redshirt-junior Michael Hammond led the way with a fourth-place overall finish for the eight kilometer race in 24:28.0.

The women scored 84 points to top a field that included 36 teams at Charlotte as freshman Sarah Rapp returned to her home state and finished first for Tech and 16th overall out of 290 women’s finishers in a time of 17:41.3 for the five kilometer race.

Overall, nine Hokie runners (five men and four women) beat their times from last year’s race at Charlotte.

NC State stayed atop the men’s Southeast region, and is followed by North Carolina and East Carolina. The Tar Heels are the top-ranked women’s squad in the region, followed by ACC rivals Virginia, Clemson and Duke.

The Hokies are back in action in two weeks as they will run at the Appalachian State Blue Ridge Open on Friday, Oct. 14, and then the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational on Sunday, Oct. 16.

For updates on Virginia Tech cross country, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).