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WINTER 2024-25 25 with All-ACC accolades as well. Led by Martin's win, the Virginia men finished fourth in the team standings, scoring a total of 94 points. "In an era where the ACC is so deep, I think it is so cool that we are going to be able to look back at the record books and add a fourth ACC victory and hopefully build off of it next year and get the ball rolling for some other guys to win individual titles," Martin said. From not being in the conversation to being a main character in the season's story, Martin took each challenge in stride. He admitted his greatest challenge this season was his men- tality to push through the pain when he may not be feeling his best and to remind himself that "I belong with these guys, and even if I'm not feeling my best, I know I can hang with them." Not only did Martin surpass the ACC competition, but he also stuck with the top athletes at the NCAA Southeast Regional and NCAA Championships. He flipped the switch in his mentality and confidence, putting himself in a position to execute on expectations and compete with the top athletes. "It was really tough because going into ACCs my mindset was, 'If I could be top three that would be great.' And then after ACCs, both external and internal pressure, it was a change or a shift within that mindset of, 'I can be a top-15 or a top-10 guy in the country,'" Martin said. "I knew I could do it, but for me it still felt weird to be in that conversation. That's not something I was used to and was not something I was expecting during the season." Martin is more commonly known for his speed on the track, specifically in the mile and 1,600-meter events. A native of Warminster, Pa., Martin broke the four-minute mile barrier in high school competing for Archbishop Wood and has gone on to garner All-ACC and All- America honors while at Virginia. Not usually labeled a "cross country guy," people were quick to take to 'X' (formerly Twit- ter) to officially dub Martin with the title. At the NCAA Southeast Regional, Martin finished in eighth place and was one of eight Cavaliers, four on the men's side, to earn All- Region honors for their performance in Rock Hill, S.C. Martin led the Cavaliers to a first- place team finish scoring 79 points, and thus automatically qualifying the men's team for nationals. Taking that momentum and confidence into the NCAA Championships, Martin set himself up for a huge final race of the season. Trusting his ability and feeling as though it was a good day, Martin used the entirety of the 10,000 meters race to reel in runners and finish 13th in the country, recording a personal-best time of 29:02.3. The junior moved up 206 places from a year ago when he finished 219th on his home course as Virginia hosted the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Know- ing his performance a year ago was not a reflection of his true ability, Martin admitted to being slightly fearful with two bad nation- als races already under his belt his first and second year. "I said if I can hang with these guys until 1K or 2K to go, it's really hard to have a bad race because I'm in a really good spot," said Martin. "Once I got to 8K or 9K, I was just ex- cited with where I was at and put the finishing touches on the race. It was a really good race for me, and I was happy with it." Continuing to etch his name in the record books, Martin was the first Virginia man to earn All-America honors in cross country since Brent Demarest in 2018 on the exact same course in Madison, Wis. Throughout the race, Martin knew he was in All-America territory as he counted the heads in front of him. "To add to that list [of Virginia All-Ameri- cans] means a lot and hopefully it sets the precedent for years to come," Martin said. While cross country has concluded, the Cavaliers look forward to the indoor track sea- son and subsequently outdoor track season right around the corner. "Besides being excited and a joy to be that good at cross country," Martin said, "I think it's also a relief that I have shown myself that I can do it, which is a huge confidence boost going into track." " Going into ACCs, I thought there was a chance [to win], but I would have been okay with top five. I just thought if I went with the guys and broke away, nothing bad could come from that. I just trusted myself, went with the pace and good things happened." MARTIN Martin won the individual ACC cross country title with a meet-record time, and he went on to earn All-America honors by finishing 13th in the country at the NCAA Championships. (Photo courtesy UVA)