North Carolina State University Athletics
Cross Country Opens 2013 Campaign at Wolfpack Invitational
9/20/2013 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
CARY, N.C. - The NC State men's and women's cross country teams both opened their respective 2013 seasons at the Wolfpack Invitational on Friday at the WakeMed Cross Country Course in Cary N.C. The Wolfpack men came away victorious, posting a score of 20 points, while the Pack women placed second with a score of 41 points.
The NC State men had seven runners finish in the top ten, led by sophomore Graham Crawford's time of 15:01.9. Freshman Sam Roberson (15:04.0) and freshman Adrian Ross (15:07.) came in third and fourth behind Crawford, while junior John Harwell (15:08.8) and freshman Craig Engels (15:12.3) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Junior Matt Schick (15:12.5) and sophomore Vibushan Sivakumaran (15:18.9) rounded out the Wolfpack runners who finished in the top ten.
Wolfpack freshman Jacob Thompson (14:47.0) and Sebastian Hanson (15:00.3) finished with the second and third best times overall at the race, but ran unattached and therefore did not count toward the official standings. Wolfpack freshman Bakri Aboshouk also ran unattached, finishing in 12th place.
"The goal today was to prepare for the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota," NC State head coach Rollie Geiger said. "The idea was to group together, not race from the gun and see who are we redshirting this year or not. I'm real pleased with how some of the freshmen performed today. For the rehearsal part of this, it was very nice."
Following NC State in the standings were ACC rival UNC (65) in second place, while East Carolina (82) finished third. On the women's side, NC State junior Joanna Thompson led the Wolfpack women with a time of 16:55.2 to finish second overall. Freshman Megan Moye (17:23.1) and freshman Erika Kemp (17:29.1) came in at fifth and sixth place, respectively, while senior Halsey Merritt finished 12th with a time of 17:50.0.
"I thought our team held their own and did really well," NC State women's head coach Laurie Henes said. "Some of our young athletes had some really solid performances today."
Duke (24) took the overall team title, followed by NC State (41), North Carolina (102) and East Carolina (117).
NC State will suit up for action next at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. on Sept. 27. Follow the cross country team on Twitter at @PackX.
