When we think of college sports, the first ones that come to mind are often the team sports. It’s the football teams running together out of the tunnel as a mass of humanity. It’s the basketball teams huddling together before one of the players goes to shoot a key free throw. It’s the baseball and softball teams doing some sort of rally ritual as they try to come back in a game.

However, there are plenty of sports when college athletes compete as individuals. Some of the biggest examples of individual sports championships have or are currently happening in the college sports world. Now, sports like track and field, golf, and tennis also find various ways to crown a team championship as well, but they do name national champions on an inividual level.

With several of those sports having recently completed or will be completing soon and naming said individual champions, today’s question of the day is a simple one. Who is your favorite ever Tar Heel from an individual sport?

Personally, I have to go with the legend Shalane Flanagan. A long distance runner, Flanagan competed for UNC in the early 2000s, winning national championships in both track and cross country.

Following her college career, she went on to run in four Olympic games from 2004 to 2016 and in some of the big marathons around the world. She most notably won the silver medal in the 10000 meters at the 2008 Beijing games. Besides that, she also won the 2017 New York City Marathon, becoming the first American woman to accomplish that feat since the 1970s.

That’s my answer, but what about you? Any Tar Heels from the track, the pool, the course, or the court stand out? Let us know your answers and let’s get the discussion going!