North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Cross Country To Run In Pre-Nationals
10/17/2002 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 17, 2002
The NC State cross country team travels to Terre Haute, Ind. this weekend for one of the season's biggest meets. The Wolfpack will send its top performers to the Asics/Pacesetter Pre-Nationals, to be held on Saturday. The men's and women's teams will run in back-to-back heats at 11:35 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. CT.
The women's team enters the season's premier race as the No. 6 team in the nation. It will face some of the nation's best programs in No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 Michigan State and No. 8 Arizona State in the 'blue' race. NC State will miss out on a rematch with defending national title holder BYU, which is running in another heat on Saturday. The Wolfpack will return All-American Kristin Price to the course. Price sat out the last race with a minor injury, but is making a strong recovery. She is expected to be one of the team's top performers. All-American Megan Coombs is also expected to run, as is top freshman Julia Lucas. Diana Henderson, Rebecca Hoover, Josianne Lauber, Abagail Nelkie and Janelle Vadnais will all vie for the remaining four spots in the line up.
The men's squad will also face stiff competition. No. 1 Stanford and No. 10 BYU will run against the Pack in the 'white' race. The Wolfpack hope to rebound from the tough luck it had at the Great American Festival last month. Members of the team suffered from a concussion and a twisted ankle in the event, as well as an allergic reaction to bee stings. Devin Swann, Ricky Brookshire and Kurtis Marlowe have all recovered from their misfortunes and are back in shape for the weekend's match-up. David Christian, David Patterson and Dean Bowker, all former All-ACC selections, as well as Nick Mangum will suit up for the race.
This will be the Wolfpack's last regular season race. Next time the team takes to the course, it will be in defense of its ACC Championship. NC State hopes to return to Terre Haute in late Novemeber, then participating in the NCAA Championships Nov. 25, also hosted by Indiana State
