North Carolina State University Athletics
Hoer Named USTFCCCA Regional Female Athlete of the Year
11/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Nov. 17, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. — NC State freshman Laura Hoer already has won four races and earned all-conference, ACC Freshman of the Year, and All-NCAA Regional honors this season.
On Wednesday, she added another honor to the list, when the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association named her its Southeast Region Female Athlete of the Year. Hoer won the NCAA Southeast Regional this past Saturday, her fourth win in five races in 2010, and has cemented her status as one of the top runners in the nation.
Hoer began the season with victories in back-to-back weeks, first at the Wolfpack Invitational and then at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. A fourth-place finish in a strong field in the White Race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals is the only “blemish” on her season, but she recovered admirably from that and won her last two races, the Atlantic Coast Conference Championships and the NCAA Southeast Regional.
In the regional, Hoer defeated runner-up Kendra Schaaf of North Carolina by nearly eight seconds, which is significant in that Schaaf finished second at the NCAA Championships a year ago while running for Washington.
Hoer is one of just six athletes in the storied history of the NC State cross country program, male or female, to win four races in a season. Only Suzie Tuffey in 1985 and Betty Springs in 1983 ever won more than four races in a season than Hoer’s four. Tuffey won five times as a freshman in 1985 and missed a sixth victory by 0.4 seconds to teammate Janet Smith. Springs ran the table as a senior in ‘83, winning all six times she lined up.
Hoer and the Wolfpack men’s and women’s teams will compete at the 2010 NCAA Championships on Monday, Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. The 6k women’s race will begin at approximately 12:08 p.m., with the men’s race to follow at 12:48 p.m. A live webcast of both races will be available on NCAA.com.
