North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Wetherbee Produces for Women's X-Country
11/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
BY TIM PEELER
Today, however, the NC State freshman is ready to compete in the biggest event of her life the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. with the hopes of helping the Wolfpack finish in the Top 20 for the 13th consecutive year.
The native of
But last fall, she was unable to compete in cross country because of chronic compartment syndrome, an acute medical condition of the nerves and blood vessels that often requires surgery. Wetherbee had operations on both shins to relieve the painful pressure that caused the condition and sat out all of last fall and much of the spring while rehabilitating from that and an Achilles injury. By the time she felt up to running again, she contracted mononucleosis and missed even more time.
“Last year was just a really bad year,” Wetherbee said. “It was just kind of a year of let downs.”
It’s no wonder that it took Wetherbee a few months to get back to the top of her racing abilities once she arrived at NC State. Now, however, after winning ACC Freshman of the Year honors and taking 15th at the NCAA Southeast Regional 10 days ago, Wetherbee seems to have peaked at just the right time for the Wolfpack women, which struggled early in the season to close the gap between its top three runners Brittany Tinsley, Angelina Blackman and Bona Jones and the lower part of its lineup.
“She has gotten better with each race,” said NC State women’s cross country coach Laurie Henes. “She has done exactly what we told her to do in every race. She didn’t have a lot of experience in cross country in high school, because of her injuries last year and because she didn’t run as a freshman. Now, though, she is having huge personal records in every time she lines up.”
One of the reasons Wetherbee finished in the top 15 at the regional race was because she paired with teammate Bona Jones, a sophomore who won All-America honors by finishing 26th at last year’s NCAA Championship.
Jones struggled with a blood-iron deficiency through much of this season, and needed a new strategy to help her team. Henes paired Jones, who was used to starting her races aggressively, with Wetherbee, who opens with a more conservative pace. The two ran step-for-step at the regional race, with Jones finishing 14th and Wetherbee finishing 15th.
“We decided that if we had them run together, that would be much better for the team,” Henes said. “It kind of happened that Collen moved up as part of that, just by running with Bona. It ended up being very good for the team.”
And, to be honest, the Wolfpack women, with its long tradition of excellence, felt like they were struggling, after finishing second at the ACC Championships. Henes thought her team might have been in danger of missing the NCAA Championship for the first time since 1994. But that was before Tinsley, Blackman, Jones and Wetherbee all finished in the top 15 at the Southeast Regional race in
“We have never really gone into a regional meet worried that if we didn’t run well, we might not make nationals,” said Henes, a former NCAA champion at NC State who is in her second year as the team’s head coach. “We had never been in that position before. I think our team responded really well to that.”
Now that Wetherbee has solidly moved into the No. 4 position, Henes is still looking for someone to step up into the No. 5 scoring spot, whether its senior Anne Wheatly, freshman Marika Walker or sophomore Kara McKenna.
For Wetherbee, just getting the opportunity to contribute this much is more than she could have imagined this time last year, when injuries kept her out of action.
“Coach Henes said from the beginning of this season, not to expect too much in my freshman year,” Wetherbee said. “It’s been way more than I expected. Looking back, you can see tons of places where there is room for improvement.”
And, she hopes, Wetherbee hopes to save her best race of the season for last.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
