North Carolina State University Athletics
Hill Goes for NCAA Title On Saturday
3/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Track
March 12, 2011
2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships
Live Stats March 12
Men's Start List | Women's Start List
Watch: Sat. 5:55 p.m. ET
Graham 11th in 60-Meter Dash
RALEIGH, N.C. - What better way to complete the most successful 12 months of his running career than with a national championship?
That's what NC State sophomore distance runner Ryan Hill is thinking as he prepares for Saturday night's 3,000-meter run at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas. His race is slated for 7:55 p.m. EST and can be viewed live on-line through the above ESPN3 link.
"I'd really be disappointed if I don't win," Hill said before leaving for the event earlier this week. "I want to win a national championship. That would be huge for my career. I want to show Nike and adidas that I can run well.
"To do that, you have win high profile races or be in position to win one. This is a great opportunity."
The native of Hickory, N.C., is already a three-time All-America selection during his Wolfpack running career. Two of those have come in cross country and one has come in outdoor track. But Saturday is an opportunity to make a big splash on the indoor track, where he had limited success in his first season of competition but has excelled this year.
In fact, this time last year Hill wasn't much more than an accomplished cross country runner who was still looking to find his way on the track. He finished in the top eight at the ACC Championships in both the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters, but his times weren't exactly elite.
That changed soon after the outdoor season began, and Hill started winning races. He won an ACC Championship in the 10,000 meters, earned All-America honors in the 5,000 meters and at one time had the fastest time in the nation in the 1,500 meters. He capped it all off in the summer, when he finished ninth in the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships against a world-class field of amateurs and professionals.
He earned his second cross country All-America award in the fall, finishing 22nd at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind., even though he was hampered throughout the end of the season with a lingering illness.
He ran a limited number of races this indoor season, but produced impressive results. His time of 7:50.78 at the Husky Invitational in the 3,000 meters shattered a 20-year old school record, automatically qualified him for this weekend's national meet and stands as the third fastest time posted by a collegian this year.
"It's all about progress and training," Hill said. "I'm a very different trained runner at this point in my career. I'm more prepared for indoor races. I gained a lot of confidence over the last year."
Two weeks ago, he won two more ACC titles, running the anchor leg for the Wolfpack's distance medley relay team and leading the way in the 3,000 meters, as NC State had three of the top four finishers.
Saturday's field in the 3,000 meters is expected to be large, with 20 runners qualified for the race. The field is familiar to Hill, who has run against just about every other qualifier at some point in his high school or collegiate career.
He believes he'll have a distinct advantage since he is only running in the 3,000 meter this weekend. A total of 14 of the other 19 runners, including everyone else with a top-10 time, ran at least one race on Friday night, either the draining 5,000 meters or the 1,600-meter leg of the distance medley relay.
"That's certainly an advantage for me," Hill said. "I'll be fresh."
But he also expects a relatively slow race, unlike the one he ran in Seattle earlier this year to qualify, which was 13 seconds faster than his winning time at the ACCs.
"I seriously doubt it will be fast, because it'll be one of the last distance races of the meet and most of the rest of the field has already run at least once," Hill said. "I think a lot of guys will be sitting around, getting in position and waiting to make a move. I think it'll be an insane kick at the end.
"I kind of like that, as long as I have good position. If you're in bad position in that kind of race, you can get left behind. I'll be really nervous the first half of the race, making sure I get in the right position. My goal is to kind of be in the top six the entire race and not get boxed in."
With 20 runners on the starting line, Wolfpack head coach Rollie Geiger is a little concerned about the size of the field. But he also has confidence that Hill will run a smart race.
"This is going to be a very tactical race," Geiger said. "It's an eight-minute race and there are certain tactics runners will try to use, because it is all about positioning. Nobody wants to lead and they all want to kick at the end.
"But that is something that Ryan is really good at."
Live stats from the meet are available here and live television coverage via ESPN3 is available here.
• By Tim Peeler, tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
