North Carolina State University Athletics
Tinsley Wins Wolfpack Invite
9/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
CARY, N.C. - NC State athletes dominated both races Friday at the 2009 Wolfpack Invite. Sophomore Ryan Hill, running unattached, set a course 5K record in the men’s race, and Brittany Tinsley returned to action to win the women's race as the Wolfpack opened the 2009 season at the Wake Med cross country course with strong performances.
With a number of runners competing out of uniform, the Wolfpack lost to Maryland in the women’s race, but that result was deceptive because of the number of NC State runners competing out of uniform.
The offical results said that Maryland won the women’s race with 24 points to NC State’s 38. Five of the top six runners in the women’s race were Wolfpack athletes, however, and those five all finished ahead of all but one of Maryland’s runners. Had all five run in uniform, NC State’s final team score would have been 18. Three of the five ran unattached, and that was the difference in the score.
“I think some of our athletes were a little upset with the coaches because they wanted to win the team race,” women’s head coach Laurie Henes said. “Decisions to run certain athletes unattached prevented that from happening. We had to make those decisions as coaches, and we accept that.”
Tinsley, a redshirt-senior in her first action since 2007 because of injuries, won the individual race in a time of 17:30. Teammate Emily Pritt, a true sophomore, was second at 17:35. Maryland’s Kristen Jenkins was third at 17:46, but the next three runners were from the Pack - Jordan Jenkins (17:46), Erin Mercer (18:10) and Tiayonna Blackmon (18:15). Pritt, Mercer and Blackmon all ran unattached.
Five of the next six runners were from Maryland, and their tight finish sealed the team victory for the Terps, but it was NC State the owned the race. Redshirt-freshman Erika Alpeter (unattached) was 10th at 18:26 and true freshman Julia Kick was 13th at 18:38. That gave NC State five of the top six runners and seven of the top 13 in the race.
“There were a lot of positives,” Henes said. “We wanted Brittany Tinsley and Emily Pritt to set the pace and to have our younger runners stay in a group right behind them. Britt ran a great race. Her time was excellent, and Emily also ran great. I was really pleased with the way Jordan Jenkins and Erin Mercer ran. They’re true freshmen and really ran well.”
Hill, a true sophomore, won the men’s race with a course-record time of 14:35 for the 5K race. Unfortunately for the opposition, Hill was the only NC State athlete running unattached in the men’s race, and consequently that race was not close.
The Wolfpack officially ran 2-3-5-6-8-9-12 for a team score of 24, and that’s not counting Hill. Maryland was a distant second at 45. NC State runners and the Wolfpack had seven of the top 10 runners and eight of the top 16.
Maryland’s Greg Kelsey took second at 14:40, followed by NC State senior John Martinez (14:46) and redshirt-freshman Patrick Campbell (14:47) at third and fourth. Andrew Chebii of Winston-Salem State was fifth at 14:52, and sophomores Bobby Moldovan (14:53) and Andrew North (14:53) were sixth and seventh.
“Our game plan was to run as a grooup, but the athlete from Maryland (Kelsey) had a great day and kind of changed things for us,” Wolfpack head coach Rollie Geiger said. “Ryan Hill’s time is off the charts, and counting Ryan we had five athletes who finished in a time of less than 15 minutes. A year ago we won this race and everyone was over 15 minutes. And Ryan and J-Mart were both about 30 seconds ahead of last year’s pace, so it was a good day for us.”
Hill, a true sophomore, won the men’s race with a course-record time of 14:35 for the 5K race. Unfortunately for the opposition, Hill was the only NC State athlete running unattached in the men’s race, and consequently that race was not close.
The Wolfpack officially ran 2-3-5-6-8-9-12 for a team score of 24, and that’s not counting Hill. Maryland was a distant second at 45. NC State runners and the Wolfpack had seven of the top 10 runners and eight of the top 16.
