Crimson Tide take top two spots in blue division with defending Division 1 champion Chelangat followed closely by Asekol, but Wolfpack shows strength with six in top 20; Florida State’s Wildschutt triumphs in 5-mile event, Furman captures men’s title, with Kimeli and Sandusky also victorious in gold races

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Mercy Chelangat has already been where the North Carolina State women’s cross country team aspires to be at the end of this season.

So, it was only fitting that the Alabama standout and reigning NCAA Division 1 women’s champion started her journey to another prime podium finish in November in the same place Friday as North Carolina State, which demonstrated that it has all the components to contend for the program’s first title following an impressive performance at the Notre Dame Joe Piane Invitational at Burke Golf Course in South Bend, Ind.

RESULTS | INTERVIEWS

Chelangat and Crimson Tide newcomer Flomena Asekol, who previously attended New Mexico Junior College, took the top two spots in the women’s blue division 5-kilometer race, with North Carolina State placing five scorers among the first 12 finishers and six athletes overall in the top 20 to produce a 38-point effort at the same venue that will host this year’s Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.

Chelangat ran 16 minutes, 10.3 seconds, followed closely by Asekol in 16:10.7 to lead Alabama to a third-place finish with 147 points.

Kelsey Chmiel led North Carolina State by taking third in 16:14.6, with Hannah Steelman (16:23) securing sixth, Katelyn Tuohy (16:23.7) earning ninth, Sarah Latour (16:26.9) placing ninth and Alexandra Hays (16:32.9) finishing 12th.

Samantha Bush clocked 16:42.3 to secure 19th overall for the Wolfpack, which opened its season Sept. 17 by sweeping the top six spots in another 5-kilometer race at the adidas XC Challenge at WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary, N.C.

North Carolina State took a moment during its post-race cool down run to visit the King of Kings statue on the Notre Dame campus, more commonly known as "Touchdown Jesus", but the Wolfpack athletes were the undisputed queens in their first significant test since placing runner-up March 15 to Brigham Young at the Division 1 Championships in Stillwater, Okla.

Stefanie Parsons, a transfer from Division 2 Edinboro, finished fourth in 16:18.3 to lead runner-up New Mexico, which had six athletes in the top 30 for a 94-point performance.

Alison Pray of Southern Utah, who was second Sept. 17 at the Florida State Open, placed fifth in 16:20.6. Joy Chirchir of Toledo took seventh in 16:23.6 and Bethany Hasz helped Minnesota finish fifth overall with 192 points, just behind Washington at 189, after securing a 10th-place effort in 16:31.6.

Adriaan Wildschutt of Florida State followed his victory Sept. 17 at home with another impressive performance by winning the men’s blue division 5-mile race in 23:06.7, pulling away at the 4-kilometer mark and holding off a late surge from Jonathan Davis of Illinois in 23:11.6.

Nick Scudder of Charlotte took third in 23:14.9, with Matthew Carmody finishing fourth in 23:22.6 for host Notre Dame, which rested several All-Americans in preparation for Oct. 15 at the Division 1 Pre-Nationals at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.

Furman, led by Daniel Bernal placing 12th in 23:45.5, had five scorers in the top 45 to produce a 129-150 victory over Michigan.

Butler, led by a 10th-place effort from Barry Keane (23:41.7), took third with 177 points, followed by Florida State (204) and Southern Utah (207). Ahmed Muhumed supported Wildschutt for Florida State by securing seventh in 23:36.7.

Antonio Lopez Segura was fifth for Virginia Tech in 23:30.8, Weber State’s Christian Allen finished sixth in 23:32.9, Alabama’s Victor Kiprop earned eighth in 23:39.1 and Mario Garcia Romo took ninth for Ole Miss in 23:40.3.

Nick Moulai of Ole Miss prevailed in the men’s open 5-mile race in 24:54.1, with Georgetown capturing the team victory by a 39-63 margin over St. Thomas of Minnesota.

North Carolina State and New Mexico also demonstrated their depth in the women’s open 5-kilometer race, combining to take seven of the top eight spots.

Savannah Shaw emerged victorious for the Wolfpack in 16:58, ahead of Anna Sophia Keller (17:00.1), competing unattached for Notre Dame. North Carolina State also won the team race by a 22-58 margin over Ole Miss.

Auburn standout Joyce Kimeli, the reigning Division 1 indoor 5,000-meter champion, competed in her first cross country race since earning All-America honors at the 2019 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

Kimeli led the Tigers to a third-place finish with 178 points in the women’s gold division 5-kilometer race, clocking 17:05.5 in much warmer conditions than the earlier blue division competition.

Greta Karinauskaite placed second in 17:15.3, leading five Cal Baptist scorers in the top 20 to secure a 44-132 victory over Charlotte, led by third-place finisher Louise Lounes (17:17.6).

Alec Sandusky of Cincinnati was also dominant in the men’s gold division 5-mile race, producing a 24:17.2 effort to pull away from Eastern Kentucky’s Ahmed Jaziri (24:26.6) and help the Bearcats to a third-place performance with 123 points.

Cal Baptist triumphed in the gold race against Western Athletic Conference rival Utah Valley by a 62-78 margin.

Britain Reynolds took third for Utah Valley in 24:27.1, but Cal Baptist countered with Ivo Balabanov (24:31.2) and Said Mechaal (24:36.3) finishing fourth and fifth overall, as the Lancers had five scorers place in the top 30.