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(4) Duke	91
Virginia Tech	86

NCAA Southeast Regional
November 9, 2012
Women’s 6K Race: Noon • Men’s 10K Race: 1:15 p.m.
McAlpine Park • Charlotte, N.C.

PREVIEWING THE MEET
Tech heads to Charlotte, N.C., to compete in the 2012 NCAA Southeast Regional on Friday, Nov. 9 at McAlpine Creek Park. It will be the second time this season that the Hokies have run the course in Charlotte where the men’s team claimed their first team title of season at the Charlotte Invitational on Sept. 28.
The women’s 6k features 41 teams and will begin at noon. Duke (10), William & Mary (19) and NC State (30) are nationally ranked teams in the field.
Forty men’s teams will compete in the 10k which is set to start at 1:15 p.m. Nationally ranked teams in the race include Eastern Kentucky (15), Virginia Tech (17) and Virginia (21).
On the women’s side, Tech will be running individuals Hannah Gray, Sarah Rapp and Alex Watt. The three runners were the top three finishers for the Hokies at the ACC Championships.
After winning the first ACC Championship in program history, the men’s side will be looking to earn its first trip to nationals since 1987. They are led by 2011 All-American and 2012 ACC individual champion Will Mulherin. Running with the redshirt senior will be Brayden Burleigh, Thomas Curtin, Leoule Degfae, Kevin Dowd, Michael Hammond and Brian Welch.
The Southeast Region is one of nine NCAA Division I regional sites. The other host sites are Madison, Wis. (Great Lakes); University Park, Pa. (Mid-Atlantic); Springfield, Mo. (Midwest); Fort Collins, Colo. (Mountain); Madison, Conn. (Northeast); Tallahassee, Fla. (South); Fayetteville, Ark. (South Central); and Seattle, Wash. (West).
The Southeast Region includes all NCAA Division I universities from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Kentucky. Additionally, the Southeast Regional determines a portion of the NCAA Cross Country Championship field set to take place Saturday, Nov. 17, at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky.
The top two teams and top four individuals not on an advancing team receive an automatic berth into the national meet. Additional teams and individuals are chosen through an at-large selection process.

ACC CHAMPS
• On Oct. 27, the Hokie men captured the program’s first ACC title, and first conference championship since 1997.
• The team was led by Will Mulherin’s first-place finish. It was Tech’s first ACC individual crown and first individual conference champion since 1999.
• It was Mulherin’s first win of the season, while it was the Tech’s second team victory of the season.
• Mulherin, Brayden Burleigh and Thomas Curtin earned All-ACC honors. Burleigh finished sixth while Curtin was right behind him in seventh.
• Rounding out Tech’s top five were Michael Hammond in 19th and Leoule Degfae in 22nd.
• The Hokies finished the race with 55 points, six points clear of Virginia.

HOKIES TAKE SIXTH AT PRE-NATS
• In the most competitive field that Tech had seen this season, the Hokie men came away with a sixth place finish great results from Will Mulherin (6th) and Leoule Degfae (19th). Tech topped No. Tulsa as well as several other highly-acclaimed squads en route to the finish at E.P. Tom Sawyer National Park in Louisville, Ky.
• The impressive showing moved the Hokies into the national picture. After previously being unranked, Tech jumped to No. 21 in the national rankings the following week.

HOKIE MEN CLAIM CHARLOTTE INVITATIONAL
• In only their second scored meet of the season, the Hokies earned their first team win of the season at the Charlotte Invitational. The top five runners for the Hokies all finished in the top 11, Will Mulherin and Leoule Degafe finishing second and third. Finishing in eighth, 10th and 11th were Michael Hammond, Ryan Hagen and Kevin Dowd.

TECH IN THE RANKINGS
• In the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s (USTFCCCA) NCAA National Cross Country rankings, the Hokie men are currently ranked No. 17. It marks highest ranking for the team in more than a decade.
• In the Southeast region, the Tech men are second while the women are 11th.

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.

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