North Carolina State University Athletics
Cross Country Runs At NCAA Southeast Regional Saturday
11/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 12, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams are in Louisville, Ky., this weekend to compete Saturday in the NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championships, with automatic berths to the NCAA Championships hanging in the balance.
The women’s 6k race will begin at 10 a.m. at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, with the men’s 10k race following at 11:15 a.m. The top two teams in each race will earn automatic berths to the NCAA Championships, which will be held Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. Teams can earn at-large bids if they meet certain in-season criteria, and individual at-large bids also could be awarded.
ACC champion and true freshman Laura Hoer will look to win her fourth race of the season in the women’s race and in the process punch the Wolfpack’s ticket to Terre Haute. The Pack is ranked 29th in the nation and fourth in the Southeast Region in the latest USTFCCCA polls, and will have to overcome a competitive field in order to earn an automatic berth to nationals.
“Seven of the top eight teams in this region are from the ACC, and we know how strong our conference is,” women’s head coach Laurie Henes said. “This will be a very competitive regional and we can be in the thick of things. We’ve been consistent up front this year. Now it’s time for someone to step into the fourth and fifth spots for us. We have runners who are quite capable of making a difference for us.”
Lining up alongside Hoer will be All-ACC junior Andie Cozzarelli, redshirt-senior Kara McKenna, sophomores Jori Jenkins and Erin Mercer, and redshirt-freshmen Lauren Doherty, Allison Hoffman and Halsey Merritt.
NC State is currently ranked 16th in the nation and first in the Southeast Region in the men’s rankings, but ACC opponents Duke, North Carolina and Virginia are right behind the Wolfpack, and the four ACC teams will be challenged by the likes of Colonial Athletic Association champion William & Mary along with host Louisville.
“I’ve said from the beginning that I really like this cross country team,” men’s head coach Rollie Geiger said. “They know what we need to do this weekend, and I know it’s very important to them. I believe they’ll raise their game. The field is very strong. There are four very good teams from our conference, and William & Mary won their conference. Louisville finished second to Syracuse in the Big East, and Syracuse is a really good team. Eastern Kentucky is a very good team that no one’s talking about. So it’s a very deep field, and it’s going to be a very close race.”
Redshirt-freshman Andrew Colley and junior Ryan Hill, who both earned All-ACC honors two weeks ago, lead the way for the Wolfpack men. Colley and Hill will be joined by sophomore Matt Sonnenfeldt, redshirt-sophomores Brian Himelright and Lewis McPherson, redshirt juniors Bobby Moldovan and Andrew North, and redshirt-senior Sandy Roberts.
