The NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams both finished fifth at the NCAA Southeast Regional held Friday in Louisville, Kentucky. With the high finish, a number of Wolfpack runners also qualified for the NCAA national championships.
Redshirt sophomore Sam Parsons placed highest for the men’s team on the day, earning a spot at the NCAA championships in the process. On Friday, Parsons finished fourth overall with a time of 30:16.9 in the 10k run, beating his career best by four seconds.
On the women’s side, senior Joanna Thompson led the Pack. Thompson finished her 6k run with a time of 20:25.10, good enough for fifth overall in the women’s event.
As a team, the women earned an at-large berth for the NCAA championships because of the fifth-place finish. In the regional match, the Pack had all five runners in the top 40 out of 257 runners.
Women’s cross country Head Coach Laurie Henes complimented her team’s strong performance on the day.
“Joanna [Thompson] actually fell at the 2k mark but got up and still managed to finish fifth,” Henes said during an interview with NC State athletics. “Erika [Kemp] had a great day and Kenyetta [Iyevbele] had an amazing day; she just scored for us on a 4×400 relay in track and now earned all-region honors in cross country. To find that range in a runner is really incredible.”
The women’s team has managed a high level of consistency between its top runners throughout the year, Henes noted, which is a quality that will no doubt help the Pack at the NCAA championships.
“We’ve had a pretty tight one-through-five spread all year, and that’s been a thing that can really help you finish high at nationals, so we’re really excited to have the opportunity to race again at nationals,” Henes said.
Thompson led the Pack with a fifth overall finish, followed by sophomore Erika Kemp (13th) with a time of 20:39.86, redshirt senior Kenyetta Iyevbele (20th) with a time of 20:51.69, redshirt sophomore Megan Moye (32nd) with a time of 21:06.58 and freshman Mary Grace Doggett (36th) with a time of 21:09.58.
Thompson, Kemp and Iyevbele earned NCAA Southeast All-Region honors due to their top-25 finishes at the regional championship. This was Thompson’s fourth time getting the prestigious honor in four years. It was the first time for Kemp and Iyevbele.
After hearing that her team made the championships, Henes was understandably relieved.
“When we finished fifth, we weren’t sure if we would get in,” Henes said. “At the time it was disappointing because they had such a solid season, and the race at regionals was solid as well.”
On the men’s side, Sam Parsons, who finished fourth overall with a time of 30:16.9, led the Pack. He was followed by junior Graham Crawford (18th) with a time of 30:39.0, redshirt freshman Bakri Abushouk (35th) with a time of 31:06.7, redshirt sophomore Sam Roberson (37th) with a time of 31:10.3, and redshirt freshman Sebastian Hanson (48th) with a time of 31:19.2.
All five of the Wolfpack’s runners on the men’s side finished inside the top 50, with 231 runners having taken part in the event.
Parsons and Crawford received NCAA Southeast All-Region honors due to their top-25 performances, marking the third time Crawford has received this honor and the second for Parsons. Both have achieved the All-Region distinction each year as part of the Pack.
Parsons and the women’s team will travel to Terre Haute, Indiana, for the NCAA championships on Saturday. The time of the event will be announced at a later date.