Each year, thousands of athletes, coaches and fans gather at N.C. State’s Paul Derr Track for one of the largest track and field meets in the Southeast—the Raleigh Relays.
In the Wolfpack’s only home meet of the season, the Raleigh Relays allows the men’s and women’s track and field teams to showcase their skills against some of the stiffest competition in the nation.
It also gives Pack athletes the chance to compete in front of family and friends.
For freshmen sprinter Kerrie Davis, who will participate in her first Raleigh Relays competition this weekend, the thought of performing in front of friends and family is both nerve-wracking and exciting at the same time.
“We’re at home, so it’s a little bit different atmosphere,” Davis said. “We’re hoping to have a lot of people supporting us which will lead us to faster times and much more improvement.”
Assistant coach Terry Reese expects to see around 2,000 or more athletes competing in this meet, which will be blanketed with fierce competition.
“It’s a big competition and is going to be very competitive,” Reese said. “But that’s the kind of atmosphere that you want to be in in order to be motivated to do well.”
A total of 57 men’s teams and 61 women’s teams will compete in the Raleigh Relays with familiar conference foes like Florida State and North Carolina, also scheduled to participate.
Sophomore Ben Major, who’s first outdoor meet coming back from an injury last year was Raleigh Relays, is looking forward to the competition this year. Major will compete in the 100 and 200 meter dashes as well as two relays: 4 X 100 meters and 4 X 400 meters.
“The east region is one of the hardest regions in track and field. You can ask anyone in the country and they will tell you that,” Major said. “I’m pretty excited about relays because across the team, our relays have been pretty strong this year coming off a great indoor season, so hopefully we can take that momentum and carry it to outdoor.”
Major’s goal for the weekend is to run the 200 meter sprint under 20.8 seconds, which would better his time at the 49ers Classic meet by .55 seconds. Before coming to N.C. State however, Major was a 400 meter hurdler. But Reese thought he was in the wrong place and moved him to sprints.
“He’s quite capable of being a competitive 400 hurdler, but at the same time he is a great sprinter, so I made the comment, ‘you’re in the wrong place’,” Reese said. “I train him differently because my other hurdlers are more of endurance, but Ben is more of speed.”
Two-sport athlete T.J. Graham is not expected to run in this meet due to spring football practice commencing last week. Despite a busy schedule, Graham makes it to as many practices and meets as he can while fulfilling his football obligations.
Last year’s Raleigh Relays were marred by rainy conditions and this year could possibly lead to the same. According to The Weather Channel, the event should see partly cloudy skies with a chance of rain both days.
Major hopes the weather will hold off until later but does not mind if there is a slight rain or drizzle because it will not stop him from running.
“Mid 60’s is nice because once you get running, that’s still pretty good temperatures to run in,” Major said. “But if it rains, it rains, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Hopefully we have good weather conditions, but no matter what, I’m still going to try and accomplish my goals.”
