NC State track and field had an action-packed weekend of competition on Friday, Jan. 26 and Saturday, Jan. 27. Over the course of the weekend, the Pack competed in the Bob Pollock Invitational, the Camel City Invitational and the BU Terrier Classic.
Day one
NC State competed in the first day of Bob Pollock Invite on Friday, with plenty of athletes competing for the red-and-white in the sprinting and throwing events. Faced with some tough competition, the Pack only managed to register three top-10 finishes across the nine events it participated in.
Two of those top-10 finishes came in the weighted throw, from sophomore Nathan Lau and senior Makala Wright. On the men’s side, Lau recorded a mark of 19.06 meters to take seventh in the event while also setting a new personal best and moving up to seventh-best in NC State history. Wright registered a throw of 18.77 meters in place sixth in the women’s event.
Graduate student Ally Henson submitted a fifth-place finish in the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.43 seconds in the final round. Although she didn’t qualify for the finals, freshman Jordyn Parker competed in the women’s 60-meter and registered a career-best time of 7.64 seconds.
Day two
The Pack’s second day of competition was divided all up and down the East Coast — the Bob Pollock Invitational in Clemson, the Camel City Invitational in Winston-Salem and the BU Terrier Classic in Boston, Massachusetts.
NC State’s second day at the Bob Pollock Invite was much less eventful than the first, with junior Amaris Tyynismaa and senior Zach Hughes being the only Wolfpack athletes to submit top-15 finishes for the Pack. Tyynismaa placed third in the women’s 3000-meter event with a time of 9 minutes, 14.37 seconds while Hughes took sixth in the men’s 800-meter with a time of 1:50.71.
At the Camel City Invite, freshman Angelina Napoleon stole the show and broke a school record for the second week in a row. After setting a new Wolfpack record in the women’s 600-meter last week, Napoleon registered a time of 2:07.46 in Winston-Salem to break the 800-meter record and place first overall.
Seniors Alyssa Hendrix and JJ Malach also took home first-place finishes for the Pack, both in the 3000-meter. Hendrix won the women’s event after clocking in at 9:43.62 and Malach dominated the men’s event, finishing in 8:12.46. Seniors Kevin Antczack and Dan McGoey also notched podium finishes in the men’s 3000, finishing in 8:12.92 and 8:16.24, respectively.
Only two red-and-white athletes competed in Boston, both in the women’s 5000-meter event. Graduate student Sam Bush crossed the finish line in 15:53.15 to claim seventh place, followed by sophomore Grace Hartman in 10th place with a time of 16:09.11. Bush’s time was a new personal best.
For its next challenge, the Wolfpack is set to return to Blacksburg, Virginia for the third time this season to compete in the Doc Hale VT Invite on Friday, Feb. 2 and Saturday, Feb. 3.
