The injury-riddled men's cross country squad finished sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships on Nov. 2 in Atlanta, Ga., with a total of 148 points.

Despite the fact that seniors Nathan Sisco and Jimmy Butler were sidelined by injuries, Head Coach Gary Sievers was disappointed with the performance of those who did run.

"I was hoping, and I still think, we could've been third if people had raced like they're capable of," Sievers said. "We just haven't shown up at the starting line as of late."

Senior Mike Altieri agreed that the team did not do as well as they had hoped, but sympathized with the younger runners who have been thrust into action because of injuries to the veterans.

"ACC's were kind of a disappointment altogether," Altieri said. "We're bummed that we didn't compete as well as we should have. But it's been a really tough year not having the guys that we wish we had. It's tough for a group of young kids like that to go out and race like they're seniors."

One bright spot was Altieri, who led the Demon Deacon harriers, finishing 15th individually out of 68 total runners in the 8k race. Altieri completed the race in 25:18.8.

"Mike has done a fantastic job, kind of out there by himself," Sievers said. "Had we had some of the other (top runners) out there, Mike would probably have been running a lot better. He's done an absolutely fantastic job. I'm real pleased with his progress."

Though he was hoping to place higher, Altieri was not upset with his performance.

"I would've liked to have done a little better," he said. "My sophomore year I got 11th or 12th, and this year didn't look like anybody was that strong, so I was hoping to get into the Top 5. As it turned out a lot of guys took off in the middle of the race. So I'm happy with it but I would've liked to have done a little better."

Altieri said it has been a challenge to train without the rest of the top runners pushing him. He was accustomed to running with guys like Sisco and Butler.

"Our whole starting five besides me is pretty much out," Altieri said. "It's kind of difficult. I've still got great guys to train with, it's just not really the level I'd like. It has been a tough year."

Junior Dave Barrett was the second Deacon to cross the finish line, placing 29th with a time of 25:39.6. Sophomore Brandon Bartholemew finished in 25:54.8, good for 34th place. Redshirt freshman Andrew Ice, senior Eddie Acosta and sophomore Brian Smith also ran for the Deacs.

Acosta was returning from an injury, and Sievers expects him to be more of a factor in upcoming races.

"I think he'll be a much better addition in two weeks," Sievers said, referring to the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.

"Eddie's a competitor," Altieri said. "When it comes to race day, he's the kind of guy that's going to go out and compete and leave everything out there. He's been getting stronger and hopefully he can give us some of the player that we've known for the regional meet."

For the second year in a row, N.C. State captured the ACC title. The Wolfpack dominated the race, though, with five of the top six finishers. David Patterson was the top finisher with a time of 24:14.2. Only Jason Meany of Clemson, who placed 4th, prevented a clean sweep by N.C. State runners.

Without making any excuses, Sievers did imply that, if Sisco had run in the race, he would have at least broken up N.C. State's near-sweep some more. "He is the defending ACC champion," Sievers said.

Next up for the Deacs are the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships Nov. 25 in Greenville, N.C. Butler and Sisco will remain unavailable, but Sievers still hopes for improvement. "We certainly have nowhere to go but up," Sievers said.

Altieri, optimistically, hopes to see his team sneak up on some people. "This years' been disappointing. At the beginning of the season, we were looking to do all these great things and it all kind of fell apart," Altieri said. "But now there's really nothing expected of us for Regionals and Nationals."