Toughness Leads to Historic Finish for Wolfpack
12/1/2015 1:37:00 PM | Cross Country
LOUISVILLE, Ken. – A complete team effort highlighted by several tough individual performances led the NC State women's cross country team to a fifth-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
No individual on the team had a great race or earned All-America honors. However, the team's top five crossed the finish line within 37 scorers and about 20 seconds of each other to extend its school record of top-five postseason finishes to 11.
Megan Moye highlighted one of the Pack's toughest performances and scored for the team after a less than ideal start. Moye's left shoe and sock came off about 30 seconds into the race when another runner stepped on her heel.
"It was a very fast start, and I didn't get out as fast as I wanted to," said Moye. "I wasn't expecting it to bottleneck that soon, and then I lost my shoe."
Moye focused on finishing the race as best she could, running with only one solid foot. She faced the additional challenge of dodging roots and rocks, as well as running in the most competitive race of the year.
"I wasn't going to let one shoe coming off ruin all the training that I'd done," said Moye. "The team has come so far this season. I just raced as hard as I could for the team."
Running on the outside edges of the course, the Moseley, Va., native dropped back further than she wanted to be, as the end of the race rapidly approached. However, the final 1,000m set up perfectly for the mid-distance specialist.
"The straightaway was the best part for me," said Moye. "It's kind of like a game, you just see how many people you can pass. It's a mob and you pick off as many people as you can."
Moye kicked past a large group of runners, lowering her point total and crossing the finish line just behind the Pack's top-three.
Ryen Frazier followed, crossing the finish line as the team's fifth runner to give the Wolfpack 264 points.
As the team's scores were updated on the scoreboard, NC State and Michigan switched places between fifth and sixth. After the top five from both teams crossed the line, the scoreboard showed a tie for fifth.
Kaitlyn Kramer, the Pack's sixth runner sealed the victory over Michigan with her own strong performance, besting her NCAA Southeast Regional time by almost 50 seconds.
Early in the race, Kramer saw Moye running on one foot and realized she had to step up in case her teammate didn't finish the race. The Charlotte, N.C., native picked up her pace and trailed closely behind the rest of the squad.
Once Moye and Frazier jumped ahead. Kramer knew she wasn't going to score, but she never let up and finished the race with one of her strongest performances of the year.
"It occurred to me that there could be a tie and I would be the tiebreaker, but I didn't think it would really happen, because it's never happened before," said Kramer.
"Coming down the final straight, I tried to not let people pass me."
Kramer's finish was vital for the team's result, as she crossed the finish line nine seconds and 14 scorers ahead of Michigan's sixth runner to clinch the fifth-place finish for the team.
"It feels good to be the tiebreaker. It is disappointing to know you aren't going to score for the team. But, you can still make a difference if you're sixth or seventh."
The difference Kramer made was enough to push the women's cross country team to its unprecedented 11th top-five finish.
No individual on the team had a great race or earned All-America honors. However, the team's top five crossed the finish line within 37 scorers and about 20 seconds of each other to extend its school record of top-five postseason finishes to 11.
Megan Moye highlighted one of the Pack's toughest performances and scored for the team after a less than ideal start. Moye's left shoe and sock came off about 30 seconds into the race when another runner stepped on her heel.
"It was a very fast start, and I didn't get out as fast as I wanted to," said Moye. "I wasn't expecting it to bottleneck that soon, and then I lost my shoe."
Moye focused on finishing the race as best she could, running with only one solid foot. She faced the additional challenge of dodging roots and rocks, as well as running in the most competitive race of the year.
"I wasn't going to let one shoe coming off ruin all the training that I'd done," said Moye. "The team has come so far this season. I just raced as hard as I could for the team."
Running on the outside edges of the course, the Moseley, Va., native dropped back further than she wanted to be, as the end of the race rapidly approached. However, the final 1,000m set up perfectly for the mid-distance specialist.
"The straightaway was the best part for me," said Moye. "It's kind of like a game, you just see how many people you can pass. It's a mob and you pick off as many people as you can."
Moye kicked past a large group of runners, lowering her point total and crossing the finish line just behind the Pack's top-three.
Ryen Frazier followed, crossing the finish line as the team's fifth runner to give the Wolfpack 264 points.
As the team's scores were updated on the scoreboard, NC State and Michigan switched places between fifth and sixth. After the top five from both teams crossed the line, the scoreboard showed a tie for fifth.
Kaitlyn Kramer, the Pack's sixth runner sealed the victory over Michigan with her own strong performance, besting her NCAA Southeast Regional time by almost 50 seconds.
Early in the race, Kramer saw Moye running on one foot and realized she had to step up in case her teammate didn't finish the race. The Charlotte, N.C., native picked up her pace and trailed closely behind the rest of the squad.
Once Moye and Frazier jumped ahead. Kramer knew she wasn't going to score, but she never let up and finished the race with one of her strongest performances of the year.
"It occurred to me that there could be a tie and I would be the tiebreaker, but I didn't think it would really happen, because it's never happened before," said Kramer.
"Coming down the final straight, I tried to not let people pass me."
Kramer's finish was vital for the team's result, as she crossed the finish line nine seconds and 14 scorers ahead of Michigan's sixth runner to clinch the fifth-place finish for the team.
"It feels good to be the tiebreaker. It is disappointing to know you aren't going to score for the team. But, you can still make a difference if you're sixth or seventh."
The difference Kramer made was enough to push the women's cross country team to its unprecedented 11th top-five finish.
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