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PREVIEWING THE MEET
• The Virginia Tech cross country team will get a chance to take a look at this year’s Southeast Regional championship course at McAlpine Park in Charlotte, N.C. More than 40 teams will at the invitational competing six different races.
The women’s 6k will be run on the exact course layout as regionals, while the men’s 8k will be the first eight kilometers of the 10k regional championship. Tech will run two seven-person teams in the men’s 8k and women’s 6k. All four

LAST TIME OUT
• The Virginia Tech cross country teams competed for the second-straight meet on its home course, hosting the Virginia Tech Invitational on Sept. 14. The men’s team was composed of its normal runners while the women ran its “B”team with several of its top runners competing unattached. The men’s team took third while the women finished eighth.
The men’s side was led by 13th-place finisher, redshirt senior Will Mulherin who clocked a time of 25:36.36 in the 8k run. Teammates Leoule Degfae (25:36.96), Brian Welch (25:37.25), Michael Hammond (25:37.58) and Darren Barlow (25:40.01) were just behind him in 15th, 16th, 17th and 22nd place. Unattached Tech runners Ryan Hagen (18th), Thomas Curtin (19th), Kevin Dowd (20th) and George Carter (21st) recorded top-25 finishes.
Stephanie Cario had the top finish for the women’s team in the 6k run, recording a time of 23:33.73 for 39th place. Tech had seven unattached runners place in the top 26 with sophomore Sarah Rapp taking eighth (21:51.13).

ALL-AMERICAN RETURNS
• Redshirt senior Will Mulherin returns after earning All-America honors a year ago. On at the 10k course at the LaVerne Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind., Mulherin ran a career-best time of 29:58.1.
• With the feat, he became Tech’s first All-American since 1989 (Brian Walter), which was also the last time a Hokie ran at the NCAA meet.

WELCOME BACK
• The Hokie men welcome back all seven competitors from last season’s squad that took fourth at the Southeast Regional. The team includes All-American Will Mulherin and All-Region performer, Michael Hammond.

TAKING A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION
• Sophomore Sara Rapp was one of the top performers on last years women’s team, leading the team at both the Charlotte Invitational and the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational.

CHAMPIONSHIP COURSES
• This season, Virginia Tech will have the opportunity to train on the conference’s championship course as Virginia Tech will host the ACC Championship on Oct. 27.
• On Sept. 28, Tech will travel to the Charlotte Invitational in Charlotte, N.C., where the team will compete on this year’s regional championship course at McAlpine Park. The women will compete on the exact regional course while the men will run on a shortened version of the regional course.
• On Oct. 13, the Hokies will travel to the Louisville Pre-Nationals in Louisville, Ky., where they will compete on the course that will host the NCAA Championship.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
• In the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) Preseason NCAA Regional Cross Country rankings, the Hokie men are ranked fourth in the Southeast Region while the women are sixth.

TEAMMATES
• Redshirt freshman Darren Barlow, sophmore Brayden Burleigh, redshirt senior Michael Hammond (Midlothian High School; Midlothian, Va.)
• Redshirt junior Jared Berman and junior Taylor Crosson (James W. Robinson High School; Fairfax, Va.)
• Junior Grant Pollock and redshirt junior Brian Welch (Mills Godwin High School; Richmond, Va.)
• Juniors Courtney Dobbs and Madalyn Nuckols (Deep Run High School; Glen Allen, Va.)
• Juniors Paige Kvartunas and Alex Watt (West Springfield High School; Springfield, Va.)

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