Laurie Henes - Women's Head Coach - Cross Country Coaches

Laurie Henes

Title:
Women's Head Coach
Email:
lahenes@ncsu.edu

As Head Women's Cross Country Coach (2006-present):

9x ACC Women's XC Coach of the Year - 2006, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
9x NCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year - 2007, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
3x USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year - 2021, 2022, 2023
71 All-ACC performers
24 All-America selections
3 ACC Rookies of the Year

After 15 years as a member of Rollie Geiger's staff, Laurie Henes was named NC State's women's head cross country coach in the fall of 2006. A former national champion in track & field and an All-American in cross country at NC State, Henes is the third head coach in the history of the Wolfpack's women's cross country program.

In many ways, Henes' promotion to head coach was a formality. She was heavily involved with the women's program from the time she joined the coaching staff in 1992, and took a more prominent role with the women's team in subsequent years. Geiger stepped back from coaching the women's program following the 2005 season and made Henes the unofficial but de facto head coach.

Henes has continued to maintain the tradition of excellence established by the program over the previous three decades and has been a big part of that tradition, both as a student-athlete and as a member of the coaching staff.

It was announced in the summer of 2023 that Henes would take over as Director of Track & Field and Cross Country and Head Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Coach, while continuing to serve as the women's cross country head coach.

The promotion comes after an impressive 2022 season in which the women’s cross country team won its second consecutive National Championship. Katelyn Tuohy finished first overall to capture the individual title and was followed up by teammates Kelsey Chmiel, Sam Bush, and Nevada Mareno, who all captured All-American honors.

Tuohy was named the ACC Women’s Runner of the Year, ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year, the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Female Athlete of the Year, and the USTFCCCA National Women’s Athlete of the Year. She also took home the Honda Award and Mary Garber Award.

Henes managed to claim her seventh straight ACC Coach of the Year accolade and as well as her seventh straight NCAA Southeast Regional Coach of the Year honor after the team’s success in 2022. She was also named the USTFCCCA National Coach of the Year for the second season in a row.

Henes’ women’s squad took home its second straight championship at the end of a 2022 campaign in which they were ranked first first overall nationally the entire season. The women’s cross country team also claimed its seventh straight ACC Championship and sixth straight NCAA Southeast Regional Title.

In the fall of 2021, Henes led the Wolfpack women to the first NCAA Championship in any sport in nearly 40 years in the 2021 season, coaching five student-athletes to All-America honors. She was named USTFCCCA National and Southeast Region Coach of the Year as well as ACC Coach of the Year after leading her squad to Southeast Regional and ACC titles. Under her guidance, Chmiel won the ACC and NCAA Southeast Region individual titles and placed sixth at the National meet.

In the 2020-21 season, Henes led the team to a 2nd place finish at the NCAA Championships, the best finish for the team since 2001. She was named ACC Women's Cross Country coach of the year as well as USTFCCCA Southeast Region Head Coach of the Year, both for the fifth year in a row. Additionally, under her guidance five athletes received All-ACC honors and three garnered All-America accolades.

Henes led the Wolfpack to a historic season in 2016, as the team won the ACC title, the NCAA Southeast Regional title and earned its highest NCAA National Championship finish since 2001, placing fourth overall. In addition, she coached six athletes to All-ACC honors and two to All-America honors. She was named ACC Women's Coach of the Year and Regional Coach of the Year for the team's success.

The team repeated as ACC and NCAA Southeast Region champions in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and Henes once again earned the title of ACC Women's Coach and Southeast Region Coach of the Year after all three seasons. The team's fifth-place national finish in 2019 was its third top-five ranking at the NCAA Championships in the last five years.

The 2015 team had four athletes receive All-ACC accolades as Ryen Frazier, Rachel Koon, Kaitlyn Kramer and Erika Kemp earned all-conference honors. The Wolfpack went on to place fifth at the NCAA National Championships, good for the program's second top-five finish nationally since 1990.

In 2014, the squad set the record for most appearances at the NCAA Championships, making its 28th appearance and surpassing BYU. The team finished the season 16th as Joanna Thompson earned her second All-America honor in cross country.

In 2013 the team finished third at the NCAA Southeast Regional, and Joanna Thompson's fifth-place finish advanced her to compete individually at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Thompson earned All-America honors and was selected to the All-ACC team for the third time.

Henes got the best out of her young squad in 2012 in producing three All-ACC runners in Samantha Norman, Joanna Thompson and newcomer Samantha George, who also garnered the ACC Rookie of the Year award with a 13th-place finish at the ACC Championships. Since Henes took over the program in 2006, George became the third freshman in six years to win the award, joining Bona Jones (2006) and Laura Hoer (2010).

The 2010 campaign saw freshman Laura Hoer burst onto the scene in a big way, becoming just the sixth NC State runner, men's or women's team, to win at least four races in a season, and only the second freshman to accomplish the feat. She began the season with a 29-second victory in a course-record time at the Wolfpack Invitational, won the Roy Griak Invitational, and later in the year swept the individual championships at the ACC Championships and the NCAA Southeast Regionals. She was ACC Rookie of the Year, and the NCAA Southeast Regional Athlete of the Year. Hoer capped the season by finishing 21st at the NCAA Championships to become Henes's fourth All-American in five years as head coach. Junior Andie Cozzarelli earned All-ACC and All-NCAA Southeast Regional honors, and finished just 7.9 seconds off the pace to earn All-America at the NCAA meet.

In 2008, sophomore Emily Pritt earned All-ACC and All-NCAA Regional honors before becoming Henes's third All-American in her four years as head coach.

In 2007, Henes guided the Wolfpack to a second-place finish in the ACC. Tinsley and Blackmon repeated as All-ACC, and freshman Colleen Wetherbee was ACC Rookie of the Year. The Wolfpack went on to repeat as NCAA Southeast Regional champions, and Blackmon, Tinsley, Jones and Wetherbee all earned all-regional honors.

Henes coached one of the best women's cross country teams in the nation in 2006, guiding the Wolfpack women to their 20th conference championship in 29 years. Four runners from that team - Julia Lucas, Bona Jones, Brittany Tinsley and Angelina Blackmon - earned All-ACC honors as the Wolfpack won the conference championship. Lucas won the individual conference championship, the program's 10th, and Jones was named ACC Rookie of the Year.

The Pack won the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship two weeks later, and Lucas and Jones went on to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Following all of that, Henes was an obvious choice for ACC Coach of the Year, which she won in a vote of the league's head coaches.

In addition to winning on the course, Henes has maintained the tremendous academic tradition that Geiger established decades ago with the cross country program. Since taking on the head coaching role in 2006, Henes’ athletes have earned 36 All-ACC Academic honors and 19 USTFCCCA All-Academic individual awards.

As a student-athlete at NC State from 1988-92, Henes earned All-America honors in cross country as a junior and senior, and was All-ACC four straight years. She won the ACC women's cross country championship as a senior, finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, and was a finalist for the Honda Sports Award for cross country.

On the track, Henes won the NCAA's 5000m national championship at the 1991 outdoor championships. She set school and conference records while winning the indoor 5000m at the ACC Championships in 1991, and finished third at the NCAA indoor meet.

As an NC State graduate student, Henes's fifth-place finish at the USATF Nationals earned her a spot on the United States track & field team in the 10,000 meters for the 1993 World University Games. She finished the season with a No. 6 national ranking in the 10k. During the summer of 1995, she was a member of the USA National Team that competed in the World Championships in Gothenberg, Sweden, and had best times of 15:31.40 in the 5000 and 32:05.20 in the 10,000. In 1996, she was a finalist at the U.S. Olympic Trials at 10,000 meters.

In addition to her outstanding athletic achievements, Henes excelled academically, earning the ACC's Marie James Scholarship and an NCAA postgraduate scholarship. She won the H.C. Kennett Award as NC State's outstanding female athlete for the 1990-91 and 1991-92 school years.

Henes joined Geiger's coaching staff in 1992 as a graduate assistant and became a full-time assistant coach two years later. She was promoted to associate head coach in 1998. In her 15 years as an assistant coach, the women's program flourished, winning nine conference championships and capturing three top-10 national finishes, including a second-place finish in 2001. NC State women earned All-America honors 10 times and brought home the individual ACC championship twice.

Laurie is married to Bob Henes, a former Wolfpack All-American in cross country and track. They have two daughters, Elly, a current member of the Wolfpack's cross country and track & field teams, and Jordan.