North Carolina State University Athletics
Pack Influencing National Rankings
2/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track
RALEIGH, N.C. - With two weeks left until post-season competition begins, multiple NC State track and field individuals are impacting national rankings across the board.
In indoor track and field, only the best in each event compete at NCAA Indoor Championships. Regardless of the finish at conference championships, individuals must have one of the top-16 marks to make it to the national competition in Fayetteville, Ark.
Currently, the Wolfpack has three athletes among the top-16 in multiple events and a host of others aiming for the mark.
Jonathan Addison holds the nation’s fourth best standing in the long jump with a length of 25’10.25”. Addison set his lifetime best mark on Feb. 7 at the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite, when he jumped over a foot farther than his closest competition and previous season high. The Raleigh, N.C., native holds the highest rank out of all NC State student-athletes on the list.
Additionally, Addison is ranked 37th in the nation’s high jump standings. The junior set the mark of 7’0.25” at the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite.
Fellow jumper Alexis Perry is ranked among the country’s best in the women’s long jump. Checking in at No. 6, Perry set her lifetime best at the Bob Pollock Invitational on Jan. 23. Her jump of 21’1.50” is the best mark in the ACC.
The Durham, N.C., native also ranks among the top-16 in the 60m hurdles. Perry set the nation’s 13th-best time of 8.24 at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan. 16.
Rounding out the group of Pack student-athletes in the top 16 is Nicole Chavis. She joins the list of talented ACC throwers, which hold four of the nation’s top-16 spots. Chavis’ current season-high throw of 67’8.00” is ranked 15th.
With three athletes firmly in the national discussion, several more individuals from the Pack are looking to join their teammates. With nine days until the ACC Indoor Championships, most of these student-athletes will have one meet to reach the NCAA Indoor Championships.
After running to the fourth best time in school history in the 3,000m at the NYRR Millrose Games, Graham Crawford sits at second in conference standings and 18th nationally.
At the Millrose Games, Crawford finished fifth with a time of 7:55.89. He ran most of the race near the back of the pack, but a strong kick in the final two laps helped Crawford pass Oregon's Parker Stinson and finish in the top half of the standings. His final splits were 31.42 and 29.98.
In the 5,000m, Joanna Thompson is one spot away from a national qualifying mark. Thompson ran to the second-best finish in school history at the SPIRE Invitational with a time of 16:03.13. Her finish ranks 17th nationally and third in conference standings.
Thompson is in the same situation as Crawford. The two are very close, but with the large amount of competitions happening in the next two weeks, no one is safely in until all competitions are concluded. The two will focus on turning in their best performances at the ACC Indoor Championships.
Additionally, several more student-athletes are filling up the rest of the national standings. On the men’s side, Jacob Thomson checks in at No. 38 in the 3,000m, while Crawford is ranked 50th in the mile.
In the women’s 3,000m standings, Samantha George is 31st and Thompson is 44th, while Erika Kemp is ranked 30th in the 5,000m.
The women’s DMR team of George, Tiana Patillo, Megan Rempel and Bella Smith set the school record at the SPIRE Invitational with a finish of 11:30.17 and climbed to 23rd in national rankings.
In field events, Elizabeth Shuman is No. 24 in the long jump standings after the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite, where she set her indoor personal best of 5’10.75 for the second time this season.
This weekend, a smaller group of student-athletes will compete. The throwers will travel to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Challenge, while a few sprinters and distance runners will return to Winston-Salem, N.C., for the UCS Invitational.
Next weekend’s ACC Indoor Championship is the last chance for the Pack to earn national marks. No national qualifying mark is certain until all qualifying events are over, but the Pack is hoping for serval of its athletes to turn in #STATEment performances and book their place in Fayetteville, Ark.
