Florida State University Athletics
Florida State
ACC Championships
Mullarkey and Churchill Headline ACC XC Championships
10/27/2023 10:30:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Tallahassee, Fla.- The Florida State cross country teams hosted the ACC XC Championships on Friday morning at the Apalachee Regional Park.
David Mullarkey and Abdirizak Ibrahim captured All-ACC honors for the men's team in the 8k by finishing in the top 21 of the race, while Alyson Churchill earned the women's honor in the 6k.
The men's team has had at least two All-ACC finishers in three of the last five championships. With Churchill placing sixth, the women have now crowned at least one All-ACC runner every season since 2008.
Mullarkey, who took bronze with a time of 23:11.5, finishing within ten seconds of the best time of day (23:03.1). Mullarkey remained in the top three throughout the entirety of the race and was leading at 2.2 kilometers split.
Abdirizak Ibrahim finished 16th (23:40.1) and was in the top ten at the halfway point. Senior Cooper Shroeder finished in 25th (23:55.4). Ahmed Ibrahim finished 37th (24:07.4) alongside Matthew Neill who finished 38th (24:08.4) to round out the scoring five.
Zachary Cloud finished 54th (24:18.4) ran his personal best and Zach Leachman was 73rd (24:35.7).
The men's team received votes in the latest USTFCCCA poll and improved on their ninth-place finish last season, knocking off 20th-ranked Wake Forest. The hosts finished with a total of 117 points for fifth place, returning to the top five in the conference for the first time since 2021.
"I thought the guys did a really good job today," FSU men's head coach Bob Braman said. "We really competed well. We were super aggressive and we went for it and I'm really pleased with it. It was a great race for David, finishing third. It was a great bounce back for 'Riz' after being out for injury. He did it for the team. Ahmed had a great race as did Matt Neill and Cooper Schroeder. All were on their lifetime bests on a legit course and they competed well."
The women's team led by Churchill, who finished just outside the top five with a sixth-place finish (19:49.5). In her third ACCs, it was her first top ten finish at the event. She stayed with the lead pack throughout the race and also set a new personal best, trumping her previous best by ten seconds (19:59.7).
Anna Sentner finished in 66th (21:21.6) with fellow upperclassman Caitlin Wilkey finishing in 71st (21:28.0). Freshmen Rebecca Bergnes (21:33.2) and Bieke Schipperen (21:33.5) finished side-by-side, placing 78th and 79th respectively. Ella Mickler finished 96th (21:52.2) as the final points scorer for the Seminoles. The team finished with 275 points to place 11th.
"Today was one of the best performances of Aly's career," FSU women's head coach Cody Halsey said. "It was so special to be a part of it! Last year she was on the outside looking in and today she was sixth. She ran hard, with heart and grit. We knew she's one of the best runners in the NCAA and I believe this showed everyone what we see every day. We are so incredibly proud of her. As a team, we didn't run well. We had a lot of women make mistakes we can't afford. We need to regroup and get ready for regionals."
FSU will compete at the NCAA South Region Championships in Gainesville in two weeks on Nov. 10 before the NCAA Cross Country Championships a week later.
For more information on Florida State cross country, follow Twitter @FSU_Track and Instagram @FSU_Track.
Players Mentioned
