McCormack, Ruck lead Clemson with top-20 ACC cross country finishes

Ty McCormack’s 15th-place individual finish in the men’s 8K competition led the Clemson cross country teams on a cool, windy Saturday morning at Boston's Franklin Park at the ACC Championship meet.

McCormack was the fourth-highest finishing freshman at the event, as he raced to a

personal best 8K time of 24:12.5.  He was one spot shy of earning his first All-ACC accolade.

The women finished ninth - the same team position as they did at the 2009 meet

that was held in Cary, NC.  The Tiger women were three points shy of seventh place in

the team race.

The men’s squad finished in 10th place, led by McCormack’s solid individual effort. Clemson was 16 team points from finishing seventh in that race as well, an illustration of how tight the racing was in the meet.

The women’s team was led by junior Kim Ruck, who finished 19th in the individual race. She put together a time of 21:02.2 in the cool conditions.  It was the third straight year Ruck has finished in the top 25 individually at the ACC Championships.  Last year she was All-ACC after

a ninth-place effort.

Alyssa Kulik continued her improvement with a 28th-place finish. She posted a time of 21:12.8, a personal best over a 6,000-meter distance.  Kulik improved by 44 positions over last season’s finish at the ACC meet.

The team’s No. 3 scorer Saturday was senior Stephanie Buffo, who came across the line in 49th place with a time of 21:57.4. The final two scorers that counted for the women’s team were sophomore Sarah Turman and redshirt freshman Elyse Borisko.  In her second straight scoring effort at the conference meet, Turman was 60thwith a time of 22:13.9.  Borisko finished 68th with a time of 22:26.7.

On the men’s side, McCormack improved several spots over the final stages of the race to earn his finish. There was a large disparity between Clemson’s top two finishers, as senior Chris Slate came across the line 53rd as the Tigers’ No. 2 man.  Slate produced a time of 25:20.1. Nic Tones was the team’s third-best finisher in 72nd place (25:51.5).

The Tigers return to action in two weeks to compete at the NCAA Southeast

Regionals in Louisville, KY.