North Carolina State University Athletics
Women's Cross Country To Feature Experience, Talent And Depth
8/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
With two All-ACC runners returning along with a solid nucleus behind them and a strong recruiting class, optimism surrounds the NC State women’s cross country team. The Wolfpack has every reason to expect a strong season in 2006.
The optimsm begins with the return of All-ACC performers Jemissa Hess and Magin Kebert. Hess, now a senior, is the top returning cross country runner in the ACC from 2005, when she ran third at the ACC Championships and NCAA Southeast Regionals. She continued her breakout year with an outstanding track season that included All-America honors indoors. Now a junior, Kebert took 14th at the conference meet and eighth at the regional meet.
“Jemissa just had a tremendous year last year,” associate head coach Laurie Henes says. “She came to us as a highly regarded runner and was good from the start, but she made so much progress and got so much better as the year went on, from cross country and on through the track-and-field season. Magin had a solid freshman season, but she got better last year and was much more consistent. The two of them ran really well for us up front.”
NC State finished second in the conference a year ago, qualified for the NCAA Championships and finished 14th there. Hess and Kebert, who ran 1-2 in every varsity race for the Wolfpack last season earned all-conference and all-region honors, then led the Wolfpack at the NCAA Championships.
Behind Hess and Kebert, Angelina Blackmon settled in as NC State’s No. 3 runner in cross country by the end of the season, turning in top 20 finishes in both the ACC Championships and the NCAA Southeast Regional. Brittany Tinsley, who had to deal with anemia during the early part of the season, finished the year as the fourth runner in the lineup. Blackmon is a junior now, Tinsley a sophomore.
“That’s a strong group for us one through four,” Henes says.
In addition to that front four, the Wolfpack gets a bonus this season wth the return to action of Julia Lucas, a two-time All-ACC runner in cross country and a multiple-ACC champion and All-American in track and field. Lucas missed the 2005 cross country season with first- and second-degree burns suffered during a house fire prior to the season. Without her, the Pack still was very good, but Lucas is a difference-maker. Her experience and leadership, which are invaluable, were missed a year ago. They should be a huge asset for the Wolfpack in 2006.
“Julia makes a huge difference,” Henes says. “Not having her affected us in so many ways, but we all knew that having her sit out the year would make things all that much better for this year to have Magin, Jemissa and Julia together. Having the three of them together will make a huge difference in our training and just the attitude of our team going in.”
Having Lucas back means that NC State should have five proven runners lining up most every meet in Lucas, Hess, Kebert, Blackmon and Tinsley. Henes will have multiple options when she goes to fill the remaining two spots in the lineup.
Amy Kelly, a redshirt-sophomore this year, is a wild card for the Pack. Kelly sat out last season with a leg injury suffered during the 2005 track season. In ’04 Kelly was a leading member of a strong freshman class that also included Kebert and Blackmon.
A seventh returnee, redshirt-junior Ann Wheatley, had a breakthrough season in track, earning all-conference in the outdoor 10k. The coaches are optimistic that she can carry that success over to cross country in the fall.
“We have Julia, Jemissa and Magin up front,” Henes says. “Angelina, Amy and Brittany need to get into that group, and we’re very hopeful that Ann Wheatley will carry over her success on the track to the cross country season. That will help us accomplish our goals, which are winning the conference championship, qualifying as a team for nationals, and finishing in the national top 10.”
Those goals have been a constant for NC State cross country, both men’s and women’s, and the women have met those goals time and again over the years. The ACC has held its conference championship for women’s cross country for 28 years now. NC State has won 21 of the 28. The Pack has amassed 15 top 10 national finishes in 29 years, winning a pair of team national championships and five individual national titles. NC State women have brought home All-America honors 37 times since 1977 and 93 all-conference citations.
Having a deep group of talented and experienced runners on hand will help the Wolfpack as it looks to achieve those goals again in 2006, but many of the veterans could be pushed hard by a strong freshman class that includes four high-profile recruits. Jenn Ennis, Bona Jones, Kara McKenna and Vanessa Wright all bring glittering credentials to NC State, and it is conceivable that any of the four could be locked into the starting lineup by the end of the season.
“There is a lot of experience returning, but we also have four high-level freshmen coming in,” Henes says. “None of the four were kids who were the only good runners at their high schools or who never had any competition. Some of them came from really good high school programs, and they all have a chance to help us right away.”
There is no question that the ACC has started to close the gap on NC State in recent years. Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest have joined NC State in the winner’s circle at the ACC Championships in recent years. At the same time, the Wolfpack program has been remarkably consistent over the years. The one constant in ACC women’s cross country has been NC State, and that should be the case again in 2006.
“The conference is really tough, and I think that this is the way that the ACC is going to be from now on,” Henes says. “There will be three or four teams each year that are capable of finishing in the top 10, so we have to run a little better than we have to do what we want to do in the ACC. That’s the way the conference is going to be and everyone realizes that, so you have to take it to another level.”
The optimsm begins with the return of All-ACC performers Jemissa Hess and Magin Kebert. Hess, now a senior, is the top returning cross country runner in the ACC from 2005, when she ran third at the ACC Championships and NCAA Southeast Regionals. She continued her breakout year with an outstanding track season that included All-America honors indoors. Now a junior, Kebert took 14th at the conference meet and eighth at the regional meet.
“Jemissa just had a tremendous year last year,” associate head coach Laurie Henes says. “She came to us as a highly regarded runner and was good from the start, but she made so much progress and got so much better as the year went on, from cross country and on through the track-and-field season. Magin had a solid freshman season, but she got better last year and was much more consistent. The two of them ran really well for us up front.”
NC State finished second in the conference a year ago, qualified for the NCAA Championships and finished 14th there. Hess and Kebert, who ran 1-2 in every varsity race for the Wolfpack last season earned all-conference and all-region honors, then led the Wolfpack at the NCAA Championships.
Behind Hess and Kebert, Angelina Blackmon settled in as NC State’s No. 3 runner in cross country by the end of the season, turning in top 20 finishes in both the ACC Championships and the NCAA Southeast Regional. Brittany Tinsley, who had to deal with anemia during the early part of the season, finished the year as the fourth runner in the lineup. Blackmon is a junior now, Tinsley a sophomore.
“That’s a strong group for us one through four,” Henes says.
In addition to that front four, the Wolfpack gets a bonus this season wth the return to action of Julia Lucas, a two-time All-ACC runner in cross country and a multiple-ACC champion and All-American in track and field. Lucas missed the 2005 cross country season with first- and second-degree burns suffered during a house fire prior to the season. Without her, the Pack still was very good, but Lucas is a difference-maker. Her experience and leadership, which are invaluable, were missed a year ago. They should be a huge asset for the Wolfpack in 2006.
“Julia makes a huge difference,” Henes says. “Not having her affected us in so many ways, but we all knew that having her sit out the year would make things all that much better for this year to have Magin, Jemissa and Julia together. Having the three of them together will make a huge difference in our training and just the attitude of our team going in.”
Having Lucas back means that NC State should have five proven runners lining up most every meet in Lucas, Hess, Kebert, Blackmon and Tinsley. Henes will have multiple options when she goes to fill the remaining two spots in the lineup.
Amy Kelly, a redshirt-sophomore this year, is a wild card for the Pack. Kelly sat out last season with a leg injury suffered during the 2005 track season. In ’04 Kelly was a leading member of a strong freshman class that also included Kebert and Blackmon.
A seventh returnee, redshirt-junior Ann Wheatley, had a breakthrough season in track, earning all-conference in the outdoor 10k. The coaches are optimistic that she can carry that success over to cross country in the fall.
“We have Julia, Jemissa and Magin up front,” Henes says. “Angelina, Amy and Brittany need to get into that group, and we’re very hopeful that Ann Wheatley will carry over her success on the track to the cross country season. That will help us accomplish our goals, which are winning the conference championship, qualifying as a team for nationals, and finishing in the national top 10.”
Those goals have been a constant for NC State cross country, both men’s and women’s, and the women have met those goals time and again over the years. The ACC has held its conference championship for women’s cross country for 28 years now. NC State has won 21 of the 28. The Pack has amassed 15 top 10 national finishes in 29 years, winning a pair of team national championships and five individual national titles. NC State women have brought home All-America honors 37 times since 1977 and 93 all-conference citations.
Having a deep group of talented and experienced runners on hand will help the Wolfpack as it looks to achieve those goals again in 2006, but many of the veterans could be pushed hard by a strong freshman class that includes four high-profile recruits. Jenn Ennis, Bona Jones, Kara McKenna and Vanessa Wright all bring glittering credentials to NC State, and it is conceivable that any of the four could be locked into the starting lineup by the end of the season.
“There is a lot of experience returning, but we also have four high-level freshmen coming in,” Henes says. “None of the four were kids who were the only good runners at their high schools or who never had any competition. Some of them came from really good high school programs, and they all have a chance to help us right away.”
There is no question that the ACC has started to close the gap on NC State in recent years. Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest have joined NC State in the winner’s circle at the ACC Championships in recent years. At the same time, the Wolfpack program has been remarkably consistent over the years. The one constant in ACC women’s cross country has been NC State, and that should be the case again in 2006.
“The conference is really tough, and I think that this is the way that the ACC is going to be from now on,” Henes says. “There will be three or four teams each year that are capable of finishing in the top 10, so we have to run a little better than we have to do what we want to do in the ACC. That’s the way the conference is going to be and everyone realizes that, so you have to take it to another level.”
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