Women’s Track and Field
Key dates:
Feb. 26-28 Indoor Track ACC Championships @ Blacksburg, Va.
Mar. 27 Raleigh Relays
Apr. 23-25 Penn Relays
The women’s track team finished seventh at the indoor ACC Championships in 2008. The women will likely come out strong in throws after a 2nd place individual finish from Brittany McCain in this season’s Dec. 6 meet. The team will also boast a competitive distance core with the return of several key runners. Returning jumper Mattie Bethea looked strong in the high jump last season and remains promising for this years.
Player to look for: Lawanda Henry
Although only a redshirt freshman, Lawanda Henry has already made a huge impact for the Wolfpack. She shattered school records in the shot put at the Christopher Newport University Holiday Open. Henry’s throw of 50’11.50″ made her the first State female to break 50′.
Women’s Basketball
Key dates:
Jan. 19 Duke
Feb. 15 Virginia (Hoops 4 Hope)
Feb. 23 North Carolina
The Wolfpack women will face tough competition this season with conference foes UNC, Duke and Virginia all ranking in the AP Top 25. State will have to step up their gameplay in the absence of coach Kay Yow if they hope to go far when the ACC Tournament rolls into Greensboro Mar. 5.
Player to look for: Sharnise Beal, a junior guard from New Britain, Conn., has been averaging 13 points per game this season. She received her first start of the season and went on to score a career-high 26 points in the team’s win over Columbia Dec. 22. Beal adds her talent as part of a trio of talented guards in Shayla Fields and Nikitta Gartrell.
Softball
Key dates:
Feb. 13-15 Crowne Plaza Classic
Mar. 14-15 @ Virginia Tech
Apr. 4-5 North Carolina
A roller-coaster ride of a season ended early last year for the softball team as Virginia Tech defeated N.C. State in the ACC title game to earn the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. When the tournament committee gave its at-large bids away, the snubbed Wolfpack was out of the tourney for the first time in three years, but with a wealth of young talent State is in a position to once again compete for conference supremacy in its sixth season of existence.
Player to look for: Alyssa Albritten is a second-team All-ACC and NFCA Southeast All-Region performer. Allbritten was named State’s first conference freshman of the year. She led the ACC in doubles, total bases and slugging percentage last season and should only get better in her second collegiate season.
Rifle
Key Dates:
January 19 ñ Palmyra Tournament
February 14 ñ Collegiate Sectional & NCAA Qualifier
February 28 ñ GARC Championships
The team finished first in the Southeast Air Rifle Conference for the second time in a row last season but finished 7th in the GARC. The Rifle Team has dominated the Southeastern Air Rifle Conference this season wining all three of their competitions. Look for the team to continue to dominate the rest of the season and look for a third straight SEARC title. Also look for the team to have a better showing in the GARC.
Player to Watch ñ Noel Keck
Senior Noel Keck was named to the All-SEARC team last season and led the team at the tournament in both air rifle and smallbore events. Look for this standout to lead the team again this year.
Men’s Track and Field
Key dates:
Feb. 26-28 Indoor Track ACC Championships @ Blacksburg, Va.
Mar. 27 Raleigh Relays
Apr. 23-25 Penn Relays
The men’s track team finished sixth at the indoor ACC Championships in 2008. The team returns a number of stars in long distance runner John Martinez and 60m runner A’Tolani Akinkuotu. Due to the wide array of events, individual titles will likely be the focus as in years past.
Player to look for: Jason Jones As a sophomore he finished fourth in the shot put at the 2008 indoor ACC Championships just barely missing All-ACC accolades. Jones already has one victory this year. At the Christopher Newport University Holiday Open, Jones threw for a distance of 51’11.25″.
Men’s Basketball
Key dates:
Jan. 20 @ Duke
Jan. 31 North Carolina
Feb. 11 Wake Forest
Men’s basketball has blown a pair of close games against Florida and Marquette early in the season and will have to start finding an offensive rhythm if they want to pull out some wins in the ACC. The Wolfpack face a tough test when they open up conference play against Clemson, ranked 12th in the latest AP Poll. State will face goliaths in No. 2 Duke, No. 3 UNC, and No. 4 Wake Forest this season. However, expectations are low for a team picked to finish ninth in the ACC this season.
Player to look for: Brandon Costner The redshirt junior may need a repeat of his performance during the 2007 ACC Tournament for the team to pull off any sort of miracle this season. Costner led all scorers with 24 points on 9-for-11 shooting in the team’s loss to Florida.
Gymnastics
Key Dates:
February 7 – Governor’s Cup – UNC, Townson, New Hampshire
February 13 – Sweetheart Invite – UNC, George Washington, William & Mary
March 21 – EAGL Championship at Reynolds Coliseum
After finishing second in the EAGL Championship and fifth in the NCAA regional last year look for this team that was ranked as high as 16th last season to start out slow but finish firing on all cylinders. While the team only has five upperclassman, it also boasts a freshman class that includes those like Jess Panza who was ranked first in the vault, forth in the beam, sixth of the floor, and 18th all around nationally in 2008. Look for this team to mature quickly and be a force in the EAGL conference and even emerge on the national scene.
Player to watch for: Taylor Seaman
Junior Taylor Seaman was honored as the EAGL Rookie of the Week four times last season and earned All-EAGL first-team honors for the all-around. Look for Seaman to be a major contributor for the pack in 2009.
Men’s and Women’s Golf
Key dates: April 17-19 ACC Championship
Both the men’s and women’s golf teams experienced successful fall campaigns in 2008 and hope to carry the momentum forward into this spring. The men’s team competed in three tournaments last fall, finishing 2nd of 18, 2nd of 23 and 4th of 14. The women’s team competed in four tournaments. The women’s highest finish came when they T-2nd among 18 teams at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships in October.
Players to look for – Sophomore Matt Hill – Hill won the Maryland Invitation to start the season, shooting a 65 in the final round–the second-lowest score in school history. His stroke average of 69.43 leads the NCAA. Look for Hill, who is currently ranked No. 1 nationally, to lead the Wolfpack to high finishes this spring.
Source: N.C. State Athletics
