North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State's Geiger, Henes Win ACC Coach of Year
11/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
RALEIGH, N.C. NC State’s Rollie Geiger and Laurie Henes were recognized as the 2006 ACC Cross Country Coach of the Year on the men’s and women’s side respectively, as selected by a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches. Both Geiger and Henes guided the Wolfpack to the ACC championship on October 28 at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville ,Va.
Henes garners her first ACC Women’s Coach of the Year title after guiding the Wolfpack to its 20th outright ACC title and its 21st overall in the 29 years that the conference has sponsored women’s cross country. NC State tallied 59 total team points as the Wolfpack placed four members in the top 13 to earn All-ACC accolades. Senior Julia Lucas won the individual competition in a time of 20:42.1 to pace the Pack, while Wolfpack teammate Bona Jones finished in fourth place and was the race’s top freshman finisher en route to being named the ACC Freshman of the Year. Henes becomes just the second NC State coach to receive this honor, joining Geiger as the only other Wolfpack recipient. It’s the 16th time in league history that an NC State coach has been recognized with this award.
Geiger is honored as the league’s top coach on the men’s side for the 11th time in his career. Geiger previously had won ACC Women’s Coach of the Year honors 17 times before turning that program over to Henes in 2004.
Under Geiger’s tutelage, NC State claimed its 10th league championship in the last 12 years and 14th overall at the conference meet in Charlottesville. The Wolfpack tallied 31 total team points to win the league title as NC State’s top six runners all earned All-ACC honors by finishing in the top 14 of the 8K course. Junior Wesley Smith led the charge placing fourth in a time of 24:03.3. He was followed by teammates Tibor Vegh in fifth, John Crews in sixth, Stephen Furst in seventh and Gavin Coombs in ninth. The award marks the second time in the last three years that Geiger has been honored as the ACC Men’s Coach of the Year.
