North Carolina State University Athletics
Cross Country Season Gets Serious
9/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
RALEIGH, N.C. — After a tuneup in the Raleigh Invitational two weeks ago, the NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams dive headfirst into the deep end of the pool Friday afternoon at the Notre Dame Invitational.
The Wolfpack is entered into the featured Blue Division races, each of which features seven ranked teams, including the No. 1 Wisconsin men and the No. 3 Michigan and No. 7 Illinois women. Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Florida State and North Carolina both are entered into the race as well. FSU’s men are ranked No. 24, their women at No. 29. North Carolina’s women are ranked 25th.
Surprisingly, NC State is not among the ranked teams in the men’s race. Despite the presence of four legitimate All-America candidates in the starting lineup, the Wolfpack has gotten virtually no respect in the early season, failing to show up in the top 30 of either of the USTFCCCA polls to date. Three of those four all-star candidates — Bobby Mack, Wes Smith and Gavin Coombs — redshirted last season, which might explain the lack of love for the Pack among the pollsters.
“We’re flying under the radar a bit, which is fine with us,” Wolfpack coach Rollie Geiger says.
The Notre Dame Invitational will be the perfect opportunity for NC State to make a blip on that radar. With John Crews joining Mack, Smith and Coombs, the Wolfpack has a formiddable if underrated nucleus that is 11 men deep, but unchallenged so far in 2006. The Pack easily outclassed the field at the Raleigh Invitational, taking the top seven spots men’s race.
“This will be our first test,” Geiger says of Notre Dame. “We’ll see where we are as a program after this race. This is an outstanding field. Wisconsin is No. 1 in the country, and Notre Dame and Michigan are excellent cross country teams, as are several others in the field.”
NC State’s women are among the ranked teams in the women’s Blue Division race. The Wolfpack is No. 12 nationally with a deep and talented lineup, headed by seniors Julia Lucas and Jemissa Hess, junior Magin Kebert and sophomore Brittany Tinsley. The women also have a deep team that has yet to face a challenge. Counting runners who ran unattached, NC State took the top seven spots in the women’s race at the Raleigh Invitational.
“This is a really strong field,” says associate head coach Laurie Henes, who coaches the women’s team. “There are some very good teams on the women’s side. We’ll certainly find out a lot about our team. I hope we can run together as a group. Ideally, I’d like to keep the gap from 1-8 as small as possible.”
Henes also expects to find out a lot about a pair of true freshmen, Bona Jones and Kara McKenna, both of whom will be in the starting lineup.
“This will be their first real collegiate race,” Henes says. “We’ll see how they react.”
The Wolfpack is entered into the featured Blue Division races, each of which features seven ranked teams, including the No. 1 Wisconsin men and the No. 3 Michigan and No. 7 Illinois women. Atlantic Coast Conference rivals Florida State and North Carolina both are entered into the race as well. FSU’s men are ranked No. 24, their women at No. 29. North Carolina’s women are ranked 25th.
Surprisingly, NC State is not among the ranked teams in the men’s race. Despite the presence of four legitimate All-America candidates in the starting lineup, the Wolfpack has gotten virtually no respect in the early season, failing to show up in the top 30 of either of the USTFCCCA polls to date. Three of those four all-star candidates — Bobby Mack, Wes Smith and Gavin Coombs — redshirted last season, which might explain the lack of love for the Pack among the pollsters.
“We’re flying under the radar a bit, which is fine with us,” Wolfpack coach Rollie Geiger says.
The Notre Dame Invitational will be the perfect opportunity for NC State to make a blip on that radar. With John Crews joining Mack, Smith and Coombs, the Wolfpack has a formiddable if underrated nucleus that is 11 men deep, but unchallenged so far in 2006. The Pack easily outclassed the field at the Raleigh Invitational, taking the top seven spots men’s race.
“This will be our first test,” Geiger says of Notre Dame. “We’ll see where we are as a program after this race. This is an outstanding field. Wisconsin is No. 1 in the country, and Notre Dame and Michigan are excellent cross country teams, as are several others in the field.”
NC State’s women are among the ranked teams in the women’s Blue Division race. The Wolfpack is No. 12 nationally with a deep and talented lineup, headed by seniors Julia Lucas and Jemissa Hess, junior Magin Kebert and sophomore Brittany Tinsley. The women also have a deep team that has yet to face a challenge. Counting runners who ran unattached, NC State took the top seven spots in the women’s race at the Raleigh Invitational.
“This is a really strong field,” says associate head coach Laurie Henes, who coaches the women’s team. “There are some very good teams on the women’s side. We’ll certainly find out a lot about our team. I hope we can run together as a group. Ideally, I’d like to keep the gap from 1-8 as small as possible.”
Henes also expects to find out a lot about a pair of true freshmen, Bona Jones and Kara McKenna, both of whom will be in the starting lineup.
“This will be their first real collegiate race,” Henes says. “We’ll see how they react.”
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