January 3, 2005

Virginia Tech's cross country teams went the distance in 2004 and competed well in a tough conference and region. The women's team tried hard to fill the void of All-American runner Marlies Overbeeke and sustain their top-ten regional finish with the strong senior leadership of Jessica Morris, a three-year veteran and a slew of returnees and top freshman recruits. The men's team hoped to improve from their 15^th place finish at last year's regional meet with a pair of seniors in Michael Lawson, a 2003 all-region runner, and David Atkiss, who missed the 2003 season due to an injury. Several freshman provided much needed depth to the all ready returning pack of runners. Both teams accomplished their goals and had a season of first's for the program and memorable moments.

The Hokie women competed against four nationally-ranked Atlantic Coast Conference squads and placed 10^th out of 25 teams while Tech's men's team tied for 14^th place with North Carolina out of 29 teams at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships held in Greenville, N.C. The women beat 15 Division I teams including Clemson from the ACC and the men finished one place higher than they did last year.

Two weeks before the regional championships, Tech's women's team took seventh place beating Maryland, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Miami and the Hokie men finished ninth out of the 11 conference teams defeating North Carolina and Miami on the course in its first-ever Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by the University of Maryland.

At the most challenging non-championship meet this season, the Chile Pepper Invitational, Tech recorded top-10 team finishes. The women claimed sixth place while the Hokie men finished tenth in the 31 team-field at the invitational hosted by nationally-ranked Arkansas. The Hokies beat 19 NCAA Division I cross country teams including Georgia Tech, the only other ACC cross country team entered in the race.

Tech claimed it's second team victory of the season on the men's and women's side at the Bobcat Invitational on October 2^nd. Fourteen Hokies finished in the top-ten in both races. The Hokies defeated Lees-McRae College, the host of school of the invite, Appalachian State and Warren Wilson College in both races.

The women's team was second beating Richmond, Liberty, William & Mary, Ohio State and East Tennessee State while the men's team grabbed fourth place out of the 12 teams who competed at the Lou Onesty Invitational, which was hosted by Virginia on September 18^th. The Hokie men scored better than four other Virginia Universities in their first meeting with an ACC cross country team during the inaugural season.

Tech began the 2004 season by winning the men and women's team scoring with six top-ten finishers at Festival in the Fields. The Hokies defeated Division I harriers Liberty University and Wayne State University.

There were many individual accomplishments from Hokie runners in 2004. Jessica Fanning (Fr., Charlottesville, Va.) earned All-Southeast Region honors for her 14^th place finish at the regional championships and became Tech's first All-ACC runner for her 13^th place finish at the conference championships.

Fanning notched her first collegiate 5k race win at the Lou Onesty Invitational and closed the season as Tech's top finisher in five out of the six races. She was honored twice as Virginia Tech's Athlete of the Week for her accomplishments.

Natalie Sherbak (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.) was Tech's second finisher in the regional and conference meets with 37^th and 30^th place finishes, respectively.

Jessica Morris (Sr., Coatesville, Pa.) ended her Hokie cross country career as Tech's third finisher in her fourth and final regional championships. But more importlantly, she captured her first collegiate meet win of her career at the Bobcat Invitational.

On the men's side, David Atkiss (Sr., Hatfield, Pa.) was Tech's top finisher in four meets, including the NCAA Southeast Regional and ACC Championships. He was 44^th out of 200 runners at regionals and took 35^th at the conference meet.

Michael Lawson (Sr., Foster, R.I) closed his Hokie cross country career with a 73^rd place finish for the Hokies at regionals but was Tech's number one runner in two meets this year.

Freshmen, Billy Berlin (Fr., Midlothian, Va.), Andrew Montgomery (Fr., Fall Church, Va.) and Rider Clauss (Madison, Wisc.) ran close together in a tight pack and scored points for Tech in all of the meets.

The outlook for 2005 looks positive even though the Hokies loose two seniors. Morris and Lawson all displayed leadership, compassion and determination as Tech's top runners. They will be missed. But on the bright side, the freshman and returnees gained some valuable experience this year and hope to build on their momentum in 2005.

Look for Fanning, Sherbak and Katie Danyko (Jr., Sterling Heights, Mich.) to step up and fight for the women's top runner position. The women's team hopes to get back Morgan Ekemo, one of Tech's top runners in 2003, and Tina Tremmel, a strong distance runner from Germany, next year. Both ladies were unable to compete in 2004 due to injuries.

On the men's side, Atkiss will have his last year of eligibility in 2005. His experience will once again lead a not so quite young team in 2005 as they battle back to the top-ten in the region.