Men's and women's cross country run well at ACC championship

Different conference, same result for the Syracuse men’s cross country team. 

The No. 14 Orange won its second consecutive conference championship Friday, winning the ACC title in Kernersville, N.C., after winning the Big East championship in its final year in the conference last season.

Syracuse placed five runners in the top 21 and finished with 64 points, 20 points ahead of runner-up North Carolina. Martin Hehir continued his strong sophomore campaign, pacing all Orange runners with a third-place finish at 24:05.5. He was followed by senior Robert Molke, who placed eighth with a time of 24:16.4. Redshirt freshman M.J. Erb was the fastest first year runner in the field, placing 21st after crossing the finish line in 24:38.0. Hehir, Molke and Erb qualified for the all-ACC team, along with senior Griff Graves (15th, 24:27.5) and junior Max Straneva (17th, 12:09.0).

On the women’s side, a young squad continued to improve. The Orange, paced by a group of underclassmen loaded with potential, finished third behind champion No. 5 Florida State and No. 10 Virginia. Sophomore Margo Malone paced Syracuse, finishing ninth with a time of 20:37.6. Classmate Meredith Speakman also earned all-ACC honors, placing 15th at 20:53.7.

Both teams will have two weeks to prepare before traveling to the Bronx for the Northeast Regional Championship Nov. 15. Prior to the new polls released on Monday, Nov. 4, the women were ranked third and the men first.