North Carolina State University Athletics
Cross Country Races In NCAA Pre-Nationals Saturday
10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
RALEIGH, N.C. NC State will take the second step in the 2007 college cross country season on Saturday when the Pack participates in the NCAA Pre-Nationals at Terre Haute, Ind.
With 79 men’s teams and 76 women’s teams racing, the two fields have been broken down into two men’s races and two women’s races. The men’s blue race will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s white race at 11:40. The women's blue race will start at 12:20 p.m., with the women’s white race at 12:55. Both men’s races will be 8k. The two women’s races will be 6k.
NC State’s men will run in the men’s white race, with the women in the women’s blue race.
The field is loaded. Overall, 26 of 31 ranked men’s teams and 22 of 30 ranked women’s teams will take part in the Pre-Nationals. Eight of the top 10 teams in both the most recent men’s and women’s national polls are in the respective fields, including the 10th-ranked Wolfpack. The NC State women are ranked 26th.
The women’s blue race includes No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 Minnesota, No. 7 Rice, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 11 Florida State, No. 14 Colorado State, No. 16 Boston College, No. 21 Georgetown, No. 25 Wisconsin, NC State, and No. 27 Cal Santa Barbara. The women are coming off a seventh-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Women’s head coach Laurie Henes’s lineup will feature senior Angelina Blackmon, junior Brittany Tinsley, sophomore Bona Jones, fifth-year senior Anne Wheatly, sophomore Kara McKenna, redshirt-freshman Jenn Ennis, and true freshmen Colleen Wetherbee and Marika Walker.
Walker is the only addition to the lineup from the race at Notre Dame two weeks ago. The women ran well at the front of the pack at Notre Dame, but Henes wants the gap between the front three and the rest of the lineup to close between now and the end of the season.
“Brittany, Angelina and Bona are a known quantity for us,” Henes said. “I thought Colleen ran well in the fourth spot for us at Notre Dame, especially for her first race. She’s been running well, and Marika Walker has run well in practice.
“This also will be an important race for us in order for our younger kids to get familiar with this course. This is where nationals will be run, and the more times we run the course, the better. Angelina, Brittany, Anne and Bona all have experience on this course, but kids like Colleen Wetherbee, Jenn Ennis and Marika Walker have never run there before, so this race will be good for them.”
The men’s white race includes No. 3 Colorado, No. 5 Stanford, No. 7 Notre Dame, NC State, No. 14 Providence, No. 16 William & Mary, No. 18 Michigan, No. 20 Arizona State, No. 24 Minnesota, No. 26 Weber State, No. 28 Syracuse, and No. 30 Cal Poly.
The NC State men’s lineup for Pre-Nationals will include fifth-year seniors Wesley Smith, Chris Kollar, Stephen Furst, Tibor Vegh and John Crews, fourth-year juniors Gavin Coombs and Fredy Torres, and third-year sophomore John Martinez. This lineup, minus Vegh, finished second at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago.
“This race will be another challenge for us,” Wolfpack head coach Rollie Geiger said. “Obviously, it’s a really strong field. That goes without saying. This will give us another chance to measure ourselves as a program. I felt that we didn’t race as well as we could have at Notre Dame, for a number of reasons. We’ve had two good weeks of conditioning, and I think the kids will race better than they did at Notre Dame.”
With 79 men’s teams and 76 women’s teams racing, the two fields have been broken down into two men’s races and two women’s races. The men’s blue race will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s white race at 11:40. The women's blue race will start at 12:20 p.m., with the women’s white race at 12:55. Both men’s races will be 8k. The two women’s races will be 6k.
NC State’s men will run in the men’s white race, with the women in the women’s blue race.
The field is loaded. Overall, 26 of 31 ranked men’s teams and 22 of 30 ranked women’s teams will take part in the Pre-Nationals. Eight of the top 10 teams in both the most recent men’s and women’s national polls are in the respective fields, including the 10th-ranked Wolfpack. The NC State women are ranked 26th.
The women’s blue race includes No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 Minnesota, No. 7 Rice, No. 9 Michigan State, No. 11 Florida State, No. 14 Colorado State, No. 16 Boston College, No. 21 Georgetown, No. 25 Wisconsin, NC State, and No. 27 Cal Santa Barbara. The women are coming off a seventh-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational.
Women’s head coach Laurie Henes’s lineup will feature senior Angelina Blackmon, junior Brittany Tinsley, sophomore Bona Jones, fifth-year senior Anne Wheatly, sophomore Kara McKenna, redshirt-freshman Jenn Ennis, and true freshmen Colleen Wetherbee and Marika Walker.
Walker is the only addition to the lineup from the race at Notre Dame two weeks ago. The women ran well at the front of the pack at Notre Dame, but Henes wants the gap between the front three and the rest of the lineup to close between now and the end of the season.
“Brittany, Angelina and Bona are a known quantity for us,” Henes said. “I thought Colleen ran well in the fourth spot for us at Notre Dame, especially for her first race. She’s been running well, and Marika Walker has run well in practice.
“This also will be an important race for us in order for our younger kids to get familiar with this course. This is where nationals will be run, and the more times we run the course, the better. Angelina, Brittany, Anne and Bona all have experience on this course, but kids like Colleen Wetherbee, Jenn Ennis and Marika Walker have never run there before, so this race will be good for them.”
The men’s white race includes No. 3 Colorado, No. 5 Stanford, No. 7 Notre Dame, NC State, No. 14 Providence, No. 16 William & Mary, No. 18 Michigan, No. 20 Arizona State, No. 24 Minnesota, No. 26 Weber State, No. 28 Syracuse, and No. 30 Cal Poly.
The NC State men’s lineup for Pre-Nationals will include fifth-year seniors Wesley Smith, Chris Kollar, Stephen Furst, Tibor Vegh and John Crews, fourth-year juniors Gavin Coombs and Fredy Torres, and third-year sophomore John Martinez. This lineup, minus Vegh, finished second at the Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago.
“This race will be another challenge for us,” Wolfpack head coach Rollie Geiger said. “Obviously, it’s a really strong field. That goes without saying. This will give us another chance to measure ourselves as a program. I felt that we didn’t race as well as we could have at Notre Dame, for a number of reasons. We’ve had two good weeks of conditioning, and I think the kids will race better than they did at Notre Dame.”
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