North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Cross Country Dominates At Raleigh Invitational
9/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
RALEIGH, N.C. — It was only a tuneup for the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks from now, but the NC State men’s cross country team rolled to an easy win Friday in the Raleigh Invitational at the SAS Complex in Cary.
The Wolfpack not only overwhelmed the field, but reached the lofty goals set for the meet by head coach Rollie Geiger.
“This race was kind of a stepping stone to our first really big race, which will be at Notre Dame in two weeks,” Geiger said. “We wanted the guys to run together as a group, and we wanted them to average 4:45 a mile, and I think that the times we ran today show that we did that.”
A group of five NC State runners came across the finish line together, all at 14:52 for the 5k course. Senior Bryce Ruiz was officially listed as the individual winner, followed by juniors Wesley Smith and Tibor Vegh, sophomore Gavin Coombs and junior Stephen Furst. Redshirt-freshman John Martinez was sixth at 15:12, followed by sophomore Fredy Torres at 15:19 and redshirt-freshman Robert Bedsole at 15:27.
The Wolfpack was without a pair of past All-ACC runners. Junior John Crews, a Park Scholar, missed the race due to a Park Scholarship retreat in the mountains, while junior Bobby Mack, an All-American two years ago, did not dress for the race
“That’s two of our top runners who didn’t make the race,” Geiger said. “When you get those two in there, we’ll have some very good competition for our top seven spots.”
NC State offically took first place in the team standings with a perfect score of 15. Campbell was second at 70, followed by St. Augustine’s at 83, North Carolina A&T at 115, Methodist at 155, and Hampton and Shaw at 158.
The Wolfpack not only overwhelmed the field, but reached the lofty goals set for the meet by head coach Rollie Geiger.
“This race was kind of a stepping stone to our first really big race, which will be at Notre Dame in two weeks,” Geiger said. “We wanted the guys to run together as a group, and we wanted them to average 4:45 a mile, and I think that the times we ran today show that we did that.”
A group of five NC State runners came across the finish line together, all at 14:52 for the 5k course. Senior Bryce Ruiz was officially listed as the individual winner, followed by juniors Wesley Smith and Tibor Vegh, sophomore Gavin Coombs and junior Stephen Furst. Redshirt-freshman John Martinez was sixth at 15:12, followed by sophomore Fredy Torres at 15:19 and redshirt-freshman Robert Bedsole at 15:27.
The Wolfpack was without a pair of past All-ACC runners. Junior John Crews, a Park Scholar, missed the race due to a Park Scholarship retreat in the mountains, while junior Bobby Mack, an All-American two years ago, did not dress for the race
“That’s two of our top runners who didn’t make the race,” Geiger said. “When you get those two in there, we’ll have some very good competition for our top seven spots.”
NC State offically took first place in the team standings with a perfect score of 15. Campbell was second at 70, followed by St. Augustine’s at 83, North Carolina A&T at 115, Methodist at 155, and Hampton and Shaw at 158.
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