In its first-ever ACC championship, Syracuse took home the team title, while NC State’s Andrew Colley won the individual title to give the Wolfpack two winners in the past three years.
Syracuse scored 64 team points to out-distance second-place North Carolina, which finished with 84 points.
“This has been our goal all season,” said Syracuse head coach Chris Fox. “We wanted to be the first Syracuse team to be an ACC champion, and we are. Being the favorite, we had a little pressure on us coming in here, but the guys responded well. I’m really proud of them. This was a great field to compete against. So many of these teams here could advance to the nationals.”
Colley ran away with the individual title, finishing the 8k course in 23:37.9, which was nearly 25 seconds ahead of second-place finisher junior Thomas Curtin of Virginia Tech, who finished in 24:02.2. Syracuse sophomore Martin Hehir paced the team champions with a time of 24:05.5 for third place.
“After finishing third last year, this feels great,” said Colley. “I can’t even describe the feeling. It’s even better because I did it in front of my family–my mom, dad, sister and grandparents were here to see it.”
Colley, a senior, is the second Wolfpack runner to win the individual title in the past three seasons, joining Ryan Hill who won the 2011 meet held at Clemson.
“It was a nice race for me because I was able wait to make my move, and then, I was able to extend my lead,” added Colley. “It was really windy this morning, so I knew I wanted to take as little wind as I could. I stayed in the pack for the first 3.5 to 4K. Right around 4K, I was able to make my move and lock it down from there. It was nice to soak it in for the last bit as a senior.”
Notre Dame finished third as a team with 105 points in its first ACC championship. Virginia followed in fourth with 108 points, while defending ACC champion Virginia Tech placed fifth with 120 points.