Panthers Finish ACC Preview in Beantown

Friday, September 21

Boston, Mass.

3 PM

Pitt

Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown

Panthers Finish ACC Preview in Beantown

9/21/2018 6:20:00 PM | Cross Country

Women's Results Men's Results Open Results

Pitt Cross Country Completes Meet in Franklin Park

BOSTON – The Pitt men's and women's cross country teams previewed the site of the 2018 ACC Championship course when the competed at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown Friday afternoon at Franklin Park.

"Sam [Shields] and Nick [Wolk] were both able to step on the line and perform at a level where it puts them toward the front of the race but leaves a lot of room for improvement," Panthers coach Brad Herbster said. "Both are very talented and have looked great in practice. In the men's race, Nick had moments up front and would move back but was able to compete hard at the end and pick up a couple spots. Sam was in fifth place with less than a mile to go and moved back as people got closer to the finish line. Both have the talent to compete at the top of the ACC."

Pitt competed alongside a combined 10 nationally ranked opponents, including ACC foes Syracuse (No. 11 men, No. 22 women) and Virginia (No. 17 men, No. 17 women).

In the women's 5K, junior Sam Shields finished in 15th out of more than 216 entrants with a time of 17:40. Senior Natalie Hilton also finished inside the top 100, placing 76th at 18:21.

In his 2018 debut, junior Nick Wolk paced the Pitt men's team in the 8K race, placing 23rd out of more than 210 competitors with a time of 24:38. Sophomore Zach Lefever (52nd, 25:18) and freshman Evan Addison (87th, 25:42) also placed in the top 100 for the Panthers.

To finish the day, senior Stephanie Lednak and junior Sarah Frick competed in the open 5K, placing 104th (19:31) and 123rd (19:55), respectively.

"Part of today was presenting everyone the opportunity to see the course, and now we must really kick it up a notch and be where we need to be when we need to be there," Herbster said. "Natalie Hilton and Zach Lefever both had good races. It was good having Makenzie Zeh in the mix but we need our group to push much further up. Expectations are high and this group can get the job done."

UP NEXT
The Pitt women's cross country team will appear in the CMU Invitational at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh Saturday, Oct. 6, and both teams will compete at the Penn State National Open Friday, Oct. 12, in University Park, Pa.

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