For UNC freshman Parker Wolfe, the 2021 cross country season has gotten off to quite the impressive start: two races run, two team wins and two weekly awards. After finishing fifth overall in the Paul Short Run in Pennsylvania and helping the Tar Heel men to a narrow win, Wolfe was once again named the ACC’s Freshman of the Week.

Wolfe was one of five Tar Heels to finish in the Top 20 of the Paul Short Run. The race was just the second in his collegiate career, and his first 8K. Wolfe finished with a time of 23:38.9, and was the only freshman to place in the Top 10.

Thanks to the win, the Tar Heel men’s cross country team moved up five spots in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll, from No. 23 to No. 18. They leapfrogged Villanova and Utah State, both of whom finished behind Carolina at the Paul Short Run.

Wolfe had previously won ACC Freshman of the Week Honors in September after finishing first overall at the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary, N.C.

Both the No. 18 Tar Heel men and the No. 12 Tar Heel women are idle this weekend, but Wolfe and the men’s team will be back in action on Friday, October 15 when they take part in the Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by No. 11 Wisconsin.


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