North Carolina State University Athletics
Track Sends Nine Individuals to Outdoor NCAA Championships
5/27/2002 12:00:00 AM | Track
May 27, 2002
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State track & field team will be sending nine athletes to compete in seven events this Wednesday through Saturday at the 2002 Outdoor NCAA Championships being held at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La. The men's side will send four distance runners, while four women will compete in the distance races and one in the pole vault.
The men's team will have four runners competing in the three distance races.
Junior Chad Pearson and senior Chris Seaton will both be competing in the 10,000 meters, as they both ran NCAA Automatic times this year. Pearson is the highest rated runner on the men's team, running the fifth fastest time in the country in the 10,000 meters, and only running the race once this season. Pearson set a new NC State school record at Stanford this season with his time of 28:43.52. Seaton, who placed second in the 10,000 meters at the ACC Championships, is ranked 15th with his best top time also coming at Stanford (28:58.19).
Sophomore Andy Smith will be running in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Smith took second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the ACC Championships, and currently ranks seventh nationally with a top time of 8:40.46 coming at Stanford. For the season, Smith collected one automatic and one provisional time in the steeplechase.
The final men's runner will be senior Ryan Woods who will compete in the 5,000 meters. Woods is the 19th seed with his top time of 13:53.58. Woods won the 5,000 meters at the ACC Championships.
The NC State women's team will be well represented in the three distance races. The Pack will have two runners in both the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the 10,000 meters, and a runner in the 5,000 meters.
Sophomore Kristin Price will be the only Wolfpack athlete to run in two races, as she will be competing in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. She currently ranks fifth in the 5,000 meters with a top time of 15:53.69 at Stanford, and sixth in the 10,000 meters with a top time of 33:39.66, her race in the 10,000 meters of the season. Price was the ACC Champion in both events during the outdoor season. Price also competed in two races at the NCAA Championships during the indoor season, placing seventh in the 5,000 meters and 10th in the 3,000 meters.
Senior Beth Fonner will join Price in the 10,000 meters. Fonner posted the Pack's top time of the season running a 33:39.63 at the Penn Relays. Fonner has run one automatic time and two provisional times in the 10,000 meters, and was second to Price at the ACC Championships.
Senior Katie Sabino and junior Megan Coombs will both run in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Sabino broke her own school record in the steeplechase this year with a top time of 10:01.00, a time that ranks her second in the country. She earned All-American status last year in the steeplechase with an eighth place finish at the NCAA Championships. Coombs currently ranks 10th in the country with a top time of 10:10.74, and has notched three NCAA Provisional times this season. At the ACC Championships, Sabino won the 3,000 meter steeplechase while Coombs was third.
Senior Katie Bolac, who holds the NC State school record in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault, will make her first trip to the NCAA Championships. Her best mark of the season was 13'01.50", coming just last week at Butler. For the year Bolac registered six NCAA Provisional marks in nine meets, with a second place finish at the ACC Championships.
The action for the Wolfpack will begin on Wednesday, May 29, with the pole vault, men's 3,000 meter steeplechase, and the women's 10,000 meters.
