ACC Champions!

Friday, October 28

Raleigh, NC

10 a.m.

Syracuse University

ACC Championships

Photo by: Sara D. Davis, theACC.com

10/28/2016 11:39:00 AM | Cross Country

Five in a row!

Behind an individual championship from Justyn Knight, the No. 6 Syracuse men's cross country team earned its fifth-straight conference championship (fourth ACC) and seventh in the last-eight seasons under head coach Chris Fox.

The Orange men placed five runners in the top-nine to earn 29 points and handily win the title over second-place Virginia, which collected 72. Friday's win was the most dominant of any of Fox's seven conference titles, with 29 points besting the 2014 team's 32 as the lowest point total in a conference championship meet for the program.

"This was a positive step we needed,"Fox said. This was the first meet all year where all five of our top-five ran well. We've had a few bumps in the road at UVA and again at Wisconsin, but if we run like we ran today we can run with anyone. I was really proud of the guys, it was hot and they ran really smart for the course and for the weather."

Knight's win was the third individual meet win on the year for the junior, the individual title is also the first ACC Individual Championship for the Orange since Martin Hehir won the 2014 title in Tallahassee, Florida.

"It was amazing out there, this is a big deal for our team," Knight said. "We've been defending this title for a very long time now, so this was done for the alumni. It came down to the stretch, Edwin Kibichiy is a talented runner and a good friend of mine, and I had a little extra in the tank and came out with a win."

Knight held strong in the front of the chase pack for much of the race before making his move up to second prior to the 6k mark. At that point Knight moved right to the heels of Louisville's Edwin Kibichiy and eventually passed him in the closing meters.

The Vaughan, Ontario native crossed the line in 22:50.7 to claim his third individual meet win of the year, winning all-three meets he competed in. He's the first Syracuse student-athlete in at least 20 years to win three individual races in the same season.

Behind Knight the Orange had a tight pack at the front. Colin Bennie placed fifth, finishing in 23:12.8. After that it was Iliass Aouani placing sixth (23:22.4), Joel Hubbard in eighth (23:25.1) and Philo Germano in ninth (23:25.8) to round out the Syracuse scoring.

In addition to the five scorers, Adam Visokay (19th/23:46.9) and Kevin James (21st/23:51.2) each finished high enough to earn All-ACC accolades, marking seven all-conference performers.

Griff Molino (41st/24:21.4) also competed for the men and served as the team's eighth finisher.

The women raced to a fifth-place finish on the afternoon, Paige Stoner led the way with a 17th place finish (20:32.0) to lead the way. She was followed by Mary Malone, who crossed the line in 20:45.5, which was good for 24th. McKenzie Altmayer (39th/21:07.5), Madeleine Davison (53rd/21:26.9) and Sydney Leiher (60th/21:34.9) rounded out the top-five.

Stoner also garnered All-ACC accolades for her performance.

Behind them, Shannon Malone (67th), Stephanie Bitcon (69th), Emma Wilson (79th) and Chelsie Pennello (107th) rounded out the Orange in the field.

NC State claimed the women's team title with 53 points, followed by Notre Dame with 74. The Fighting Irish's Anna Rohrer also won the individual title in 19:26.4. Virginia Tech (153) and Louisville (157) finished in third and fourth ahead of Syracuse's 184 points.

Next, both teams will head to Van Cortlandt park in the Bronx for the NCAA Northeast Regionals, which will take place on Nov. 11.