North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Track Teams Spread Afar For Weekend
2/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track
Feb. 11, 2011
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The NC State men’s and women’s indoor track teams will have their busiest and most far-flung weekend of the season beginning Friday, as select performers will participate in four different meets, as close by as Chapel Hill and as far away as Seattle.
“It’d be nice that one track and field meet could meet the goals of the program in one location, but that’s not the case, neither for NC State or most Division I schools,” said head track coach Rollie Geiger. “As a head coach, it’s not what you prefer, but it’s what you need to do in preparation for the conference meet and for the national championships.”
A large contingent of sprinters and jumpers – including sophomores T.J. Graham, Benjamin Major III and Chris Kornegay-Gober – will compete in the Tyson Classic in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday and Saturday on a steeply banked indoor track that should help them vie for NCAA Championship-qualifying marks. Results will be available live at www.flashresults.com throughout both days of the meet.
“It’s a great opportunity, especially for T.J. and Ben in the 200 meters, because it is an extremely fast track,” Geiger said. “It has a fast Mondo surface and a steep bank. Athletes seem to run fast and jump far there.
“I like what I see there.”
Another group of mid-distance and distance runners will travel to the Boston University Valentine Invitational Friday and Saturday, in hopes of reaching NCAA and ACC qualifying and seeding marks in their events. Live results will be available throughout both days at http://lancertiming.com/.
“We are taking a nice contingent,” said Geiger, who will travel to Boston with his runners. “We’ve had some freshmen distance runners kind of break through, like Lillian Greibesland and Kenyetta Iyevbele. And (junior) Andie Cozzarelli has been outstanding so far.
“It’s not just getting qualifying times for the nationals. There are seeded heats and unseeded heats for the conference and if you're going to score, you’re chances of scoring out of a seeded section is significantly better. So this event should help us get the times we're looking for.”
On Saturday, sophomore distance runners Ryan Hill and Andrew Colley will run the 3,000 meters at the Husky Invitational, in hopes of gaining the automatic qualifying times they need against an exceptionally strong field to reach the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in March.
Finally, a group composed mainly of throwers and sprinters will participate on Saturday in the Dick Taylor Invitational on the UNC campus. Among those competing in the day-long event are three-time ACC champion thrower Lawanda Henry.
Full results will be available on www.GoPack.com after the meet.
