Bendtsen and Kermes Earn ACC Weekly Honors

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Nicholas Bendtsen and Stella Kermes of the Virginia men’s and women’s cross country program were named the first ACC Performers of the Week for the 2025 season after a successful season opener at the 2025 Spider Alumni Open, the league office announced Tuesday (Sept. 2).

Virginia dominated the Spider Alumni Open in Richmond, Va. for the third consecutive year as graduate student Nicholas Bendtsen and sophomore Stella Kermes won the men’s 6k and women’s 4k. In his Virginia debut, Bendtsen led the Cavaliers to a 1-2-3-4-6 finish. The Wolcott, Conn. native crossed the line in 17:57.6, just 0.1 ahead of Justin Wachtel (17:57.7), Andrew Jones (17:57.8) and Will Daley (17:57.9). 

In the women’s race, Kermes bettered her season opener finish from a year ago breaking the tape in 13:17.3. The Waxhaw, N.C. native finished 10^th clocking 13:56.9 on the same course last season. Led by Kermes, the Virginia women occupied six of the top ten spots with Mary Ellen Eudaly (13:20.0) and Ella Woehlcke (13:26.1) rounding out the top three finishers. 

Both Virginia the men and women finished atop the team standings as the Cavalier men scored a total of 16 points while the women tallied 18 points. Bendtsen and Kermes added their names alongside former Cavaliers in Caroline Timm and Yasin Sado, who earned the victory in 2023 and Gillian Bushee and Wachtel, who ran away with the title in 2024.

The Virginia No.6 men’s and No.20 women’s cross country teams will be back in action on Friday, Sept.12 as the team hosts the 2025 Virginia Invitational at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va. The men’s 8k race is set to being at 8:45 a.m. while the women’s 5k race will being at 9:30 a.m.

Virginia Cross Country ACC Weekly Award Winners