Cavaliers Now

Virginia's Gary Martin Wins ACC Individual Cross Country Title

Matt Newton

Virginia Athletic

Virginia junior Gary Martin became the third Cavalier man in program history to win an ACC Cross Country individual title, crossing the finish line first in an ACC record time of 22:17.6 to win the men's 8k on Friday morning at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Headlined by Martin's record-breaking run, the UVA men placed 4th in the team standings, as did the Cavalier women in the women's 6k race at Friday's ACC Cross Country Championships.

Martin kept a steady pace from the beginning, keeping up with the frontrunners all the way until the late stages of the race, when he surged ahead and wound up finishing ahead of the rest of the field by more than eight seconds. Martin's time of 22:17.6 smashed the previous record of 22:50.7, which was set back in 2016 by Syracuse's Justyn Knight. Three Virginia men have won the individual ACC Cross Country title, as Martin joins Ryan Foster (2008) and Emil Keineking (2009, 2010).

UVA placed two runners in the top five, three in the top 20, and five in the top 40. Will Anthony set a personal best with a time of 22:34.2 to place fifth overall and Nate Mountain also broke his personal record with a time of 23:00.2 to take 19th. Both Anthony and Mountain earned an All-ACC selection, an honor which goes to the top 21 finishers in the race. Andrew Jones placed 31st and Jack Eliason placed 38th to score points for the Cavaliers, who finished fourth in the team standings with 94 points. Wake Forest won the ACC Men's Cross Country Championship with 50 points, with Stanford (69 points) and North Carolina (80 points) taking second and third, respectively, in the men's 8k.

In the women's 6k, Margot Appleton placed seventh with a career-best time of 19:44.0 and Jenny Schilling took 14th in 19:57.2 to join Appleton in earning an All-ACC selection. Camryn Menninger placed 33rd, Sophie Atkinson took 31st, and Tatum David finished 51st to contribute points for the Hoos, who also finished fourth in the team standings with 152 total points. Notre Dame won the ACC Women's Cross Country Championship with 115 points, with Stanford finishing second and North Carolina taking third.

The Virginia men and women both finished well above their counterparts from Virginia Tech in the team standings - the Hokies finished 8th in the men's 8k and 13th in the women's 6k - so that earns two more points for the Cavaliers in the 2024-2025 Commonwealth Clash, which UVA now leads 4-0.

See the updated Commonwealth Clash scores and a summary of the events so far here: 2024-2025 Commonwealth Clash Score | Virginia vs. Virginia Tech

β€œOur women did a really great job," said UVA director of cross country and track & field Vin Lananna. "In particular, Margot Appleton coming back in her first race this season and to be seventh in the ACC in a really strong competition is a great performance. She is just going to get better every week. I was excited about how the women ran. On the men’s side, I think we are a lot closer, and we just need to be sure we close it out. Obviously, a great performance by Gary Martin. His time and the way he ran it and there are good people in this competition so to win is a phenomenal step up. Our mission now is to get to the NCAAs.”

Up next, the Virginia cross country team will begin preparations for the 2024 NCAA Southeast Regional, which will be held on Friday, November 15th in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The Cavaliers will look to qualify for the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships, which will take place on Saturday, November 23rd in Madison, Wisconsin.

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.