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24 CAVALIER CORNER BY JEN DIETRICH W hile not usually known as a "cross country guy," it is safe to say Virginia third-year Gary Martin earned that description after winning the individual ACC title with a meet-record time, helping the Cavaliers to a fourth-place finish at the 2024 ACC Cross Country Championships. He then went on to earn his first cross country All-America honor at the NCAA Cross Country Champi- onships. "Going into ACCs, I thought there was a chance [to win], but I would have been OK with top five," Martin said. "I just thought if I went with the guys and broke away, noth- ing bad could come from that. I just trusted myself, went with the pace and good things happened." Ahead of the ACC Championships, Martin had a strong season which included winning on his home course at the Panorama Farms Invitational. He completed the 8,000-me- ter race in a time of 22:58.9 to become the fifth-fastest all time on the course in Earlysville, Va. The third-year noted a key to success has been becoming more confident through the good days and the bad days. "I had a really good race at Panorama Farms where I felt really good, and there's a difference between feeling really good and pushing through the pain," Martin said. "Because I felt really good and I won that race, it flipped a switch in my mindset and I thought to myself 'Oh, even when I don't feel this good, when I'm having a bad day, I'm still going along with those really good guys.'" At the ACC Championships in Cary, N.C., Martin toed the line with familiar foes and 'really good guys' in Ethan Strand and Parker Wolfe of North Carolina. The trio have gone head-to-head in many championship races between track and cross country, and Martin was determined to not let the Tar Heels prevail this time. He positioned himself with the front pack of runners from the gun. With 2,000 meters remaining in the race, he knew it was just him and Wolfe coming off the hill. Believing he had a step on his rival, Martin looked to turn the momentum into putting a gap on his competitor. "I thought I'm just going to push from here," Martin said. "I know I feel good now, and I don't want to wait until 400 to go and leave it up to a kick if I can put a gap on him now." Kicking it into gear in the final stages of the race, Martin put that gap on Wolfe to best the field by nearly 10 seconds. Check- ing behind him to make sure no one was in tow, Martin broke the tape clocking a per- sonal-best 22:17.6 for 8,000 meters and smashing the ACC Championship record. The previous record stood at 22:50.7 set by Justyn Knight of Syracuse in 2016. "I don't think I believed it," Martin said. "I knew I was winning but it felt surreal. I didn't believe I was going to win, and you always think someone is going to come up at the last second, so I was still pushing to the line. When I broke the tape and won, I was really tired, but I was super excited. It was super surreal because I didn't go into the race thinking I was going to win." Martin became just the third Virginia man to win the individual ACC cross country title in program history, alongside Ryan Foster (2008) and Emil Keineking (2009, 2010). Earning his second career cross country All- ACC honors, Martin was not the only Cava- lier on the podium. The trio of Will Anthony, Nate Mountain and Martin walked away FLYING FLYING FINISH FINISH Previously Better Known In Track, Third-Year Gary Martin Has Put His Name In The Cross Country Record Book