CARY, N.C. — Senior Sam Pritchard and sophomore Brendan DiStefano earned top 10’s in leading William & Mary to a runner-up finish at the Adidas XC Challenge on Friday evening.
The Tribe upset Southeast Region No. 5-ranked Duke, 80-86, while finishing behind host and region No. 3-ranked NC State, who had 15 points. Richmond (91 points) and East Carolina (107 points) rounded out the top five. W&M finished ahead of a quartet of CAA opponents in Elon (seventh at 214), Charleston (eighth at 249), Campbell (11th at 326), and N.C. A&T (14th at 391).
Along with Pritchard and DiStefano, the Tribe turned in an impressive performance with nine runners among the top 35 in the 153-runner field.
Pritchard, the 2021 CAA runner-up, ran the 6K course in 18:20.1 to finish eighth. In his first cross country race as a collegiate, DiStefano improved from 15th at the 2K mark to finish right behind Pritchard in ninth at 18:24.6.
Graduate student Patrick North was third for the Tribe, finishing 20th in a time of 18:42.2. Junior Nate Jennings earned a top-25 performance as well, placing 24th at 18:45.9.
Sophomore Peyton Golden rounded out the Tribe’s top five in 27th place at 18:55.3
Sophomore Luke Ellwood (30th at 19:02.4), graduate student Stephen Larson (31st at 19:03.5), sophomore Luke Henkel (32nd at 19:05.6) and senior Harrison Vives (34th at 19:07.4) finished in a close pack just five seconds apart. The quartet finished five second apart.
Up Next
The Tribe is back in action at the Paul Short Run on Saturday, Sept. 30.
Adidas XC Challenge
Team Results
1. NC State 15
2. William & Mary 80
3. Duke 86
4. Richmond 91
5. East Carolina 107
6. Coastal Carolina 187
7. Elon 214
8. Charleston 249
9. Fayetteville State 251
10. Mount Olive 313
11. Campbell 326
12. N.C. Central 379
13. Barton 388
14. N.C. A&T 391
15. Bull City Track Club 211
16. Shaw 508
17. St. Augustine’s 522
W&M Results
8. Sam Pritchard 18:20.1
9. Brendan DiStefano 18:24.6
20. Patrick North 18:42.2
24. Nate Jennings 18:45.9
27. Peyton Golden 18:55.3
30. Luke Ellwood 19:02.4
31. Stephen Larson 19:03.5
32. Luke Henkel 19:05.6
34. Harrison Vives 19:07.4
63. Braedan Gallagher 19:52.2
87. Lucas Thompson 20:37.3
