Shields Earns All-ACC Cross Country Honors at Championships

Friday, October 26

Boston, Mass.

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Pitt

ACC Cross Country Championships

Shields Earns All-ACC Cross Country Honors at Championships

10/26/2018 3:54:00 PM | Cross Country

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Junior Leads Panthers at ACC Women’s Cross Country Championship

BOSTON – Pitt junior Sam Shields earned All-ACC honors with a 16th-place finish at the ACC Women's Cross Country Championship Friday morning at Franklin Park.

"It was a great day for Sam," Panthers' coach Brad Herbster said. "She put herself in the race and held position throughout. Earning her first ALL-ACC honor is a good step forward for her as we move onto region, where she has a legitimate shot at earning a spot on the national starting line."

The honors are the first of her career, and she is the second Panther (man or woman) ever to earn All-ACC Cross Country accolades. Gillian Schriever was the first to earn the award in 2016 with a fifth-place finish.

Shields' 16th-place finish is the No. 2 all-time performance by a Panther at the ACC Cross Country Championships, behind Schriever in 2016.

Shields was first to cross the finish line for the Panthers with a time of 20:54.0. Senior Miranda Salvo was next in 66th at 21:58.8, and Natalie Hilton followed in 86th at 22:15.2. Schriever placed 87th at 22:16.1, and Erin Keelan took 90th at 22:17.4. Makenzie Zeh placed 96th at 22:22.5, and Emily Burd rounded out scoring at 22:24.3 with a 98th-place finish.

As a team, the Panthers placed 13th in the women's 6K race with 320 points.

"The women as a group had a great race going and at the halfway point were in 5th as a team," Herbster said. "Our women as a group packed it in really well from 2-7. [Sam] Shields, [Erin] Keelan, and [Emily] Burd surpassed their personal records, but in cross country it's all about place. If one more woman was up with [Miranda] Salvo, we would have placed 4 or 5 spots higher as a team, but the women are moving forward and will continue to improve as we head into regionals."

On the men's side, Pitt also placed 13th in the 8K with 358 points.

Junior Nick Wolk was the top finisher for the Panthers, coming in 47th at 24:43.0. Up next were sophomore Zach Lefever and redshirt freshman Brian Spolarich in 67th (24:58.1) and 87th (25:20.2), respectively. Josh Higgins came in 100th at 25:37.3, and Tyler Rollins followed in 101st at 25:38.8. Rookie Evan Addison placed 106th at 25:50.8 and junior Jackson Morton was the final scorer, coming in 113th at 26:07.7.

"The men really struggled today," Herbster said. "We got our slow and could not move up. Nick [Wolk] ran tough as he was able to correct his position, but overall we did not put ourselves in the race. At this level, if you don't give yourself chance, you won't be able to succeed. We will correct some things and prepare for regionals, so we can finish strong."

UP NEXT
The Pitt men's and women's cross country teams will compete at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional meet Friday, Nov. 9, in University Park, Pa.

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