For one weekend of the year, all eyes in the college track and field world turn toward Raleigh.

That’s because of the annual Raleigh Relays track meet, hosted each year by NC State in which programs from across the country come to compete in a three-day event.

The meet took place this past weekend, March 23-25, and it didn’t disappoint, featuring exciting races and field events that drew a tremendous crowd all throughout the event.

“The event itself is amazing — it’s one of the biggest track meets on the East Coast the entire year,” said men’s head coach Rollie Geiger. “This event, for this area, this community is very very positive for track and field. …The exposure to the community is terrific.”

A total of four Wolfpack athletes took first place in their respective events: graduate student Allie Hays in the women’s 10K Invitational, graduate student Jamar Davis in the men’s triple jump, graduate student Cam Murray in the men’s 100-meter dash and senior Jirah Sidberry in the women’s long jump.

Hays was the first member of the Pack to take a top prize, and she did so in style, breaking the school, meet and facility record in the women’s 10K Invitational on Thursday night with a time of 32:21.13. She was one of three NC State athletes to finish in the top-five of the event as senior Kelsey Chmiel and junior Gionna Quarzo took fourth and fifth, respectively.            

Davis secured the Pack’s first victory in the field events on Friday by taking first place in the men’s triple jump with a score of 15.66 meters. He nearly took first in the long jump the following day, coming in second with a score of 7.44 meters. Sophomore William Sistruck also competed in both events, capturing ninth place in the long jump and 14th place in the triple jump.   

Also on Friday, Murray sprinted his way to the top prize in the men’s 100-meter dash with a time of 10.38. Murray’s win came despite competing in the first heat, which is usually reserved for the slower-seeded runners, but Murray dusted his competitors and the field to nab first.

“I was kind of mad I was in the first heat, but I didn’t have a seed time, so I just went out there, got out of the blocks good and just had a good transition,” Murray said. “I had a feeling I would run that fast. I was hoping for a little faster, but it’s my first 100 in like five years, so I’m satisfied with that.”       

Murray’s teammate, senior Alex Lang, also fared well in the event, taking fourth with a time of 10.58. Lang finished first in the ninth and final heat, the fastest of the event.

“It’s nice to come back outside; running into a headwind is not fun,” Lang said. “It was a good race. I won my heat too, so I think it’s just nice to get my legs back under me again and just keep it up for the rest of the season.”

Back on the field, senior Jirah Sidberry followed in Davis’ footsteps, taking first place in the women’s long jump with a personal-best leap of 6.23 meters. Her mark ranks fifth in Wolfpack history.

Plenty of other NC State athletes came in the top 10 of their respective events or came pretty close to it. On Friday afternoon, sophomore Amaris Tyynismaa took fourth overall in the women’s 1500-meter run with a time of 4:12.02.

“I’m super excited — I’m at a place that makes me really happy, and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season with something like this in my opener,” Tyynismaa said. “Going into the race, all my practices had been going really well. Even with a few minor hiccups, workouts are really enjoyable with the girls, and I love the workouts — great environment.”

Later that same night, senior Sam Bush continued the Pack’s impressive distance performances with a time of 15:39.26 in the women’s 5K, earning second place. Freshman Grace Hartman took 12th in the same event, followed closely by junior Marlee Starliper in 15th.

For Bush, it wasn’t certain she would even run the entire race — her teammate, graduate student Savannah Shaw, left early as a pace-setter, but Bush finished the race and nearly came in first.

“My thought coming in was that I wasn’t gonna stay engaged the entire time, and I wanted to leave early because I tend to do more of a same kick,” Bush said. “It was more like practicing a different technique, and I didn’t win but it felt better.”    

As the Pack’s only relay team of the meet, the quartet of Lang, Murray, senior Henry Young and graduate student Ja’Von Douglas took fourth place in the men’s 4×100-meter relay. It looked promising after Murray’s lightning-quick run in the second leg, but it appeared as though hamstring pain bothered Douglas in the final leg of the race, hindering what was already a season-best time for the Pack in 40.28.

“Once I got the stick, I felt like I put us in pretty good position,” Murray said. “Everything else was good — hand-offs were good. We’ve just gotta get everybody healthy, and once we get everybody healthy we’ll be knocking on that 38 door for sure.”

Junior Makala Wright earned the NC State throwing team’s only top-15 finish of the day with her 13th-place finish in the women’s hammer throw. Wright’s throw of 55.31 meters is a new personal best and the third-best mark in NC State history.         

The Pack continued to impress in the jumping events on day two of the meet. In the women’s triple jump, Sidberry nearly earned her second first-place finish of the meet. The senior’s mark of 12.84 meters was the same as the first-place mark, but Sidberry was awarded second place because her tailwind was eight tenths of a second greater than the other athletes.

Freshman Kyzaiah Stone earned another podium finish for the Wolfpack in the men’s high jump and his leap of 2.01 meters was good enough for third place. In the women’s high jump, graduate student Timara Chapman captured 11th place with her jump of 1.67 meters.

NC State’s final top-five finish of the meet came from graduate student Gavin Gaynor, who took fifth in the men’s 800-meter run with a time of 1:49.47 on Saturday. Gaynor also took a top-10 finish earlier in the meet, earning sixth place in the 1500-meter run on Thursday with a time of 3:41.58.

“Not a bad opener — it was a little windy today, but I PR’d by like half a second and came back from running the 1500 on Thursday,” Gaynor said. “Pretty good to come back — good practice for ACCs when we run trials and finals with one day in between. Pretty happy with how the season is going.”

Other notable performances on the track came from graduate student Ian Shanklin, who took 11th in the men’s 1500m; senior Ally Henson, who took 10th in the women’s 100-meter hurdles; junior Zach Hughes, who took 13th in the men’s 800m and sophomore Alex Nunley, who took 14th in the men’s 200m.

In all, it was a great weekend for college track and field. Spectators from across the community and the country came to Raleigh to watch high-level athletes compete, and they weren’t disappointed.

Not only was this a great event for athletes and fans alike, but it was also the last chance NC State’s seniors got to compete in a home meet. A Senior Day ceremony was held at the conclusion of Saturday’s events, a perfect sendoff for a class that has certainly been through the fire in its collective college career over the last four-plus years.

“I’m gonna miss them — I’ll miss their performances, but I’ll miss [the seniors] more,” Geiger said. “They’re a good group, they’re a fun group. I enjoy being around them — great character. They’re great students, they make the right choices, and they’re terrific track and field athletes, so I can’t ask for any more than that.”

After the festive events in Raleigh, the Pack has a weekend off before another Triangle meet at the Duke Invitational in Durham. That event runs Thursday, April 6 through Saturday, April 8.