BLACKSBURG, Va. (World-Track) — Wake Forest claimed its third Atlantic Coast Conference men’s cross country championship in five years, while NC State captured its ninth women’s title in the last 10 years Friday at the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course.

No. 2 nationally ranked NC State won its 30th women’s title in program history behind individual champion Hannah Gapes, who posted a time of 18:23.8 to break the course record by 90 seconds and the ACC Championship meet record by nearly 40 seconds. Each of the first 10 runners to cross the finish line also surpassed the previous course record.

Gapes became NC State’s eighth consecutive women’s individual ACC champion. The Wolfpack placed four runners in the top 20, including Bethany Michalak in seventh, 2025 ACC champion Angelina Napoleon in 14th and Emily Wisniewski in 20th, and finished with 65 points to top runner-up No. 14 Clemson by 48. Clemson was led by Silvia Jelelgo in second, Judy Kosgei in fifth, and Nancy Cherop in sixth. No. 20 Virginia Tech, No. 19 North Carolina and No. 24 Duke rounded out the top five.

On the men’s side, No. 10 Wake Forest totaled 48 points to win the team title, followed by Virginia Tech and No. 8 Syracuse, which tied with 94 points before the Hokies claimed runner-up honors via a head-to-head tiebreaker. No. 15 Notre Dame was fourth with 95 points, and No. 13 Stanford was fifth with 157.

Louisville’s Elsingi Kipruto became the program’s first ACC men’s individual cross country champion, winning in 22:03.5 after taking the lead during the final split. Kipruto broke both the ACC Championship meet and Buford Meredith course records. The rest of the top five featured Wake Forest’s Rocky Hansen in second at 22:10.0, Virginia Tech’s George Couttie in third at 22:18.0, Louisville’s Nickson Kogei in fourth at 22:38.4 and Wake Forest’s Aurelien Radja in fifth at 22:51.2.

North Carolina’s Caden Leonard was the top men’s true freshman, placing ninth, while Clemson’s Nancy Cherop was the top women’s true freshman after finishing sixth.

2026 ACC Cross Country Championships
At Buford Meredith Cross Country Course, Blacksburg, Va.
Friday, Oct. 30, 2026

MEN’S 8K RESULTS

1. Elsingi Kipruto, Louisville, 22:03.5
2. Rocky Hansen, Wake Forest, 22:10.0
3. George Couttie, Virginia Tech, 22:18.0
4. Nickson Kogei, Louisville, 22:38.4
5. Aurelien Radja, Wake Forest, 22:51.2
6. Daelen Ackley, Notre Dame, 22:57.7
7. Ethan Coleman, Notre Dame, 22:58.3
8. Cameron Todd, Notre Dame, 22:59.7
9. Caden Leonard, North Carolina, 23:00.0
10. Charlie Sprott, Wake Forest, 23:00.4
11. Connell Alford, Syracuse, 23:00.8
12. Bryce Gilmore, Wake Forest, 23:03.3
13. Cameron Davis, Virginia Tech, 23:05.1
14. Kaden Levings, Florida State, 23:06.1
15. Finlay Ross-Davie, Duke, 23:07.9
16. Samuel Idiens, Virginia Tech, 23:08.3
17. Connor Ackley, Syracuse, 23:08.8
18. Sean Gray, Virginia, 23:09.1
19. JoJo Jourdon, Wake Forest, 23:10.6
20. Paul Bergeron, Stanford, 23:11.4
21. Louis Small, Syracuse, 23:14.6
22. Benne Anderson, Syracuse, 23:14.9
23. Ben Gabelman, Syracuse, 23:15.6
24. Joshua Bell, Stanford, 23:15.7
25. Jacob Laney, North Carolina, 23:15.8
26. Alden Keller, Duke, 23:15.8
27. Sean Fries, Stanford, 23:17.4
28. Hunter Jones, Wake Forest, 23:19.3
29. Ryan Hagan, Virginia Tech, 23:19.7
30. Kelvin Kipleting, Louisville, 23:20.3

MEN’S TEAM SCORES

1. Wake Forest, 48
2. Virginia Tech, 94*
3. Syracuse, 94*
4. Notre Dame, 95
5. Stanford, 157
6. Duke, 159
7. North Carolina, 206
8. Louisville, 246
9. Virginia, 248
10. Pitt, 264
11. Florida State, 278
12. NC State, 333
13. Boston College, 364
14. Georgia Tech, 373
15. Clemson, 377
16. California, 458
17. Miami, 541

• Virginia Tech wins head-to-head tiebreaker over Syracuse

WOMEN’S 6K RESULTS

1. Hannah Gapes, NC State, 18:23.8
2. Silvia Jelelgo, Clemson, 18:54.0
3. Victoria Garces, Duke, 19:01.5
4. Rose Mburu, SMU, 19:04.3
5. Judy Kosgei, Clemson, 19:06.5
6. Nancy Cherop, Clemson, 19:10.6
7. Bethany Michalak, NC State, 19:14.0
8. Maureen Cheruiyot, Pittsburgh, 19:17.7
9. Imogen Gardiner, Boston College, 19:20.5
10. Mary Bonner Dalton, Notre Dame, 19:24.1
11. Brooke Wilson, Wake Forest, 19:27.4
12. Aniya Mosley, Virginia Tech, 19:28.2
13. Stella Kermes, Virginia, 19:29.3
14. Angelina Napoleon, NC State, 19:32.5
15. Julia Flynn, Stanford, 19:34.9
16. Keira Rogan, Syracuse, 19:35.4
17. Nancy Chepleting, Louisville, 19:36.8
18. Gretchen Farley, Notre Dame, 19:37.6
19. Katie Bohlke, Virginia Tech, 19:38.6
20. Emily Wisniewski, NC State, 19:43.7
21. Gladys Chepngetich, Clemson, 19:46.1
22. Ciara O’Shea, North Carolina, 19:47.5
23. Brooke Rauber, NC State, 19:49.1
24. Libby Castelli, North Carolina, 19:49.7
25. Emma Lindner, Virginia Tech, 19:50.1
26. Rosalie Ten Bruggencate, Boston College, 19:50.7
27. Rylee Blade, Florida State, 19:52.5
28. Cassidy Armstrong, Duke, 19:53.2
29. Ellie Shea, NC State, 19:56.1
30. Sophie Tau, California, 19:56.3

WOMEN’S TEAM SCORES

1. NC State, 65
2. Clemson, 113
3. Virginia Tech, 125
4. North Carolina, 161
5. Duke, 165
6. Notre Dame, 173
7. Virginia, 200
8. Boston College, 214
9. Florida State, 221
10. Wake Forest, 267
11. Louisville, 278
12. Syracuse, 290
13. SMU, 310
14. Stanford, 313
15. Pitt, 407
16. California, 449
17. Georgia Tech, 463
18. Miami, 540

Click for complete results and team scores