Jermaine Hudson
Junior runner Grace Hartman follows behind the four-wheeler during the Cross Country ACC Championship at WakeMed Soccer Park on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024. Hartman finished first with a time of 19:15.1. The NC State women's team finished in fifth place.
NC State cross country finished its regular season competing in both the Panorama Farms Invitational and, with a particularly strong showing, the Nuttycombe Invitational.
Competing in Madison, Wisconsin, the Wolfpack women’s team dominated the Nuttycombe Invitational with another first place victory. Senior Grace Hartman and junior Angelina Napoleon made their season debuts for the Wolfpack and delivered. The duo didn’t miss a beat in their opening races and secured the top two spots in the event. Hartman took the 6k championship with a time of 19:30.0, while Napoleon finished just behind her and posted a 19:34.6 finish.
With Hartman and Napoleon setting the tone, the rest of the Wolfpack turned in strong enough showings for the unit to win a team victory. Sophomore Bethany Michalak gave NC State a third top-10 finisher, completing the course in 19:50.7 — good for ninth place. Just outside the top 10 at 11th place, senior Hannah Gapes posted a time of 19:57.3 while freshman Sadie Englehardt rounded out the Pack’s top finishers with an 18th place finish and 20:11.8 time.
In the B race the Wolfpack also fared very well with two of the top three finishers. Senior Briley Bickerstaff took second place in 21:01.4. Just behind Brickerstaff, freshman Daniela Scheffler earned third place with her time of 21.11.2. The result showed that even behind its top runners, NC State has impressive depth.
On the men’s side, the Wolfpack fared much worse with no runners in the top 150. The first Pack runner to cross the finish line was junior Luke Wiley in 172nd place with a time of 25:12.8 in the 8k event. Two more Pack runners, graduate Ian Harrison and freshman Philip Blum, finished just behind him in 173rd and 174th place.
Meanwhile in Charlottesville, Virginia, NC State sent runners to race at the Panorama Farms Invitational. Running unattached, graduate Phoebe Anderson cruised to a first place victory with her time of 20:00.3 in the 6k event. Other notable results for NC State include senior Olivia Haas’ 20:57.0 finish and sophomore Chandler Welsh’s 21:13.5 time — good for 18th and 30th respectively.
Next up, NC State will head to Louisville Kentucky for the ACC Championships on Friday, Oct. 31. The women’s team will race in the 6k at 9:30 a.m., then the men’s side will run the 8k at 10:30 a.m. The women’s squad will have the opportunity to win its 30th ACC women’s cross country championship in program history.