NC State Starts Strong at #ACCOTF

Friday, May 13

Tallahassee, Fla.

All Day

NC State

ACC Outdoor Championships

5/13/2016 9:59:00 PM | Track

Results

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The NC State track and field team opened with a fast start at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Wolfpack scored three athletes and advanced five to Sunday's finals.

The men's team sits in second place with 13 points and the women's team opens the meet in a tie for 11th place after three events.

Luis Vargas earned his first ACC medal, taking silver in the 10,000m to close out the night and Joshua Davis earned second-team All-ACC honors with a sixth place finish in the hammer throw. Sebastian Hanson also scored two points for the Pack with a seventh-place finish in the 10,000m.

Throws:
Joshua Davis got the Pack on the scoreboard after the first event, finishing sixth with a mark of 208'1". Before his final preliminary throw, Davis was in 10^th and one spot out of the finals, but Davis launched his best throw of the day to earn his spot in the finals and get three more attempts.

Davis' sixth-place finish gives the team three points and earns Davis All-ACC honors. The Pelham, N.C., native is now a two-time All-ACC Selection.

Multis:
Grant Rivers sits in 11th-place with 3,298 points after five events in the decathlon.

Rivers had strong shot put, where he PR'ed with a mark of 40'9.00". The Hendersonville, N.C., native won the men's high jump with a mark of 6'6.00". The mark is one inch from his lifetime best in the event and is an outdoor personal best. Rivers cleared 6'7.00" at the ACC Indoor Championships.

Rivers will complete the decathlon Saturday with the 110h hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1,500m.

Sprints
NC State advanced a pair of 200m sprinters to Sunday's finals, as Quashawn Cunnignham and Shannon Patterson both earned qualifying marks. Cunningham won the opening heat of the 200m dash, crossing the finish line in 20.89.

Quashawn Cunningham wins his 200m heat in 20.89 to automatically advance to the finals! pic.twitter.com/Uok5gdy8CC
— Pack Track & Field (@Wolfpack_TF) May 13, 2016

Patterson took second and his heat and fourth overall with a new personal best of 21.06. The mark is a .11 of a second personal best.

Wayne Patterson finishes second in his heat and he advances to the 200m finals! pic.twitter.com/YDcvKIfWok
— Pack Track & Field (@Wolfpack_TF) May 13, 2016

Both Cunningham and Patterson advanced to the indoor 200m finals and scored points for the Pack. The two are guaranteed to repeat that for the second-straight outdoor meet, as both are finals-bound.

On the women's side, Paisley Simmons came just a one hundredth of a second short of the final heat, crossing the finish line in 24.03 for ninth place.

Mid-Distance/Distance
NC State advanced three runners to the 1,500m finals. Megan Moye was the first mid-distance runner to advance to the finals, as she glided to an automatic qualifying with a time of 4:27.68. Moye led the majority of the race, before moving back to third and earning the automatic qualification.

Moye is NC State's record holder in the event with a PR of 4:15.05. She is currently seventh in the nation and is slated to race for 1,500m title Sunday at 5:20 p.m. Moye will also race tomorrow, as she looks to advance to the 800m finals.

On the men's side, Graham Crawford and Jack Hagood both advanced to the finals with identical times of 3:47.73. Crawford turned in a technically-sound race to win his heat. The Burlington, N.C., native opened near the back and tracked down all of his opponents over the duration of the race. He took the lead after the final turn and held off his opponents down the home stretch.

Graham Crawford wins his 1500 heat in 3:47.73 for the auto bid! pic.twitter.com/6vNBP2oMIE
— Pack Track & Field (@Wolfpack_TF) May 14, 2016

Hagood was the first runner to advance without the automatic top-three mark. The Wilmington, Del., native finished fourth in heat with a massive kick over the final 400m. Hagood was eighth until he sprinted past four runners to finish the race with a four-second PR.

In the 10,000m, Rachel Koon made her event debut, finishing ninth in 35:46.61. Koon started the race at the front of the Pack and eventually fell back to lead to the chase pack. She stayed within the top-10 for the duration of the race t cross the finish line within one place of scoring position. Alexa Harvey took 12^th in the race, crossing the finish line in 36:15.99.

The men took 10 points from their event, as Luis Vargas won silver and Sebastian Hanson finished seventh. The Elon-transfer threw down a strong debut, as he stayed at the front of the group for the entire race.

Vargas crossed the finish line in 29:44.81. Vargas ran alongside fellow All-American's Tommy Curtin of Virginia Tech and Justyn Knight of Syracuse. The trio separated from the chase pack with three laps to go and battled for the lead over the reminder of the race.

On the final lap, Vargas and Curtin went head-to-head down the stretch. Curtain edged Vargas around the final turn to hold on for the win.

Luis Vargas takes silver in the 10,000m! #STATEMENT pic.twitter.com/uhNK6AMYTX
— Pack Track & Field (@Wolfpack_TF) May 14, 2016

The finish makes Vargas a two-time All-ACC selection and marks his first time earning a spot on the ACC podium.

Hanson crossed the finish line in 30:11.58 on his 10,000m debut. It also marks the first time Hanson has scored for the Pack at an ACC Track and Field Championships.

Patrick Sheehan also made a 10,000m debut, crossing the finish line in 30:45.13 for 14^th place.

Up Next:
NC State continues ACC action tomorrow.