The men and women’s track & field teams will travel to Blacksburg, Va. today for the ACC Indoor Championships. However, a combination of illness, injury and ineligibility may hinder the ability of N.C. State to participate and be a major competitor.
“We have some issues and we’re nicked up,” coach Rollie Geiger said. “We have some athletes who are ill, and we are redshirting some freshmen.”
Junior distance runner John Martinez is one of several athletes recovering from injury. Martinez will be running in spite of an injury to his Achilles Tendon and competing in only one meet during the regular season. He rested the remainder of the time.
“I’ve kind of been pushing through it because this is the conference championship and I’m not going to let this hold me back,” Martinez said. “It just seems like everything is going against us right now with everyone getting hurt or sick.”
In addition, the men’s team is without many of its middle-distance and distance runners, many of whom are either ill or are redshirting this season to maintain eligibility for the future.
“The athletes that are in our program are outstanding, but they’re just not able to line up right now,” Geiger said. “In the long run, redshirting the athletes is the right decision for them and for the program.”
Long distance runners Emily Pritt and Ryan Hill, both freshmen, qualified for the world team in cross country and will be traveling to Amman, Jordan during the ACC Championships. Thus, coach Geiger realizes the team won’t be competing at its full potential.
“There is going to be a little bit of a trade-off when you are very competitive in cross country as a team and trying to win the conference in track & field,” Geiger said. “You’re just not going to have as many athletes in each event as you’d like to have.”
Even with many athletes out of the lineup, Geiger said he still would like to see the men finish near the top portion of the conference.
“Our goal is to finish in the top tier at the championships,” Geiger said. “It’ll be Florida State out in front, and then there will be a group of teams where the difference between second and sixth may only be a few points.”
Geiger admits that beating three-time men’s outdoor track & field NCAA champion Florida State is nearly an impossible feat for any team in the ACC.
“They have quality athletes in almost every event, and when I say quality, I mean national-level athletes,” Geiger said. “At the present time, their track & field team is the best in the country.”
Sophomore distance runner Kara McKenna shares Geiger’s belief that winning is out of reach. However, she won’t rule out the chance of some individual surprise finishes.
“Andie Cozzarelli and Tiayonna Blackmon have both been running well,” McKenna said. “Also, Brittany Tinsley has been hitting her best marks of the season and is going to be really competitive in the 3000 and 5000 meters. She is ready for a breakout race.”
In addition to Tinsley, freshman thrower Lawanda Henry has already made an impact for State. Going into the ACC Championships, Henry ranks first in the conference in both the shot put and the weight throw.
“If N.C. State had five athletes like Lawanda, I’d feel a lot better about how our outcome is going to be on Saturday,” Geiger said. “She really is the cornerstone of the program right now.”
As a freshman, Henry has already captured the school record in the shot put and claimed second place all-time in the weight throw. Henry’s 16.21 m weight throw is ranked 10th nationally in its category. That mark stands as the best among the nation’s freshmen.
“What she has accomplished so far as a freshman has been great, and she’s only going to get better,” Martinez said. “For someone who is that young to come in and accomplish so much definitely helps the girl’s team out.”
Last season, the men finished sixth and the women finished seventh at the ACC Indoor Championships.
“Finishing seventh is not acceptable, but we’ve just got to get more Lawanda Henrys in the program,” Geiger said. “We need more athletes that can score not just in one event, but in two.”
