The NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams are finished with regular season meets as they have their sights set on the ACC Championship meet at the Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky, Friday.
The Wolfpack finished an impressive regular season with the women’s team finishing in the top three and the men in the top 15 in the three meets in which the teams ran enough runners to receive scores. Also, the Pack picked up six weekly ACC honors highlighted by redshirt freshman Dominique Clairmonte winning ACC Freshman of the Week three times; once for every time she raced. Sophomore Elly Henes won ACC Women’s Performer of the Week and redshirt freshmen Joe Bistritz and Edwin Rutto also picked up ACC Freshman of the Week honors for the men.
Reigning ACC champions in women’s cross country, the Wolfpack returned all five scorers from last year’s championship team and came into the 2017 season ranked first in the conference and sixth in the nation. Leading the women’s squad is the sophomore tandem of Beth Taye and Henes who finished first and second respectively in the Adidas XC Challenge in Cary in September.
The two sophomores recorded their personal and season best times at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Indiana with Henes placing 13th with a time of 16:42.9 and Taye finishing 23rd with 16:50.0. Redshirt Junior Rachel Koon and Clairmonte also had strong showings in the same 5K race with Koon’s 16th-place finish at 16:47.2. Clairmonte finished a second later, good for 19th place.
With the experience of Taye, Henes and Koon and the addition of Clairmonte, the talent and depth of the women’s team has the No. 6 Wolfpack favored to win its 23rd conference title since 1978.
The men’s squad has been consistent with team finishes of 2nd, 9th and 15th this season. Junior Elijah Moskowitz led the Wolfpack scorers in every meet this season. Moskowitz recorded a fourth-place finish in the Adidas XC Challenge 6K and had a season best 8K finish of 24:18.0 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
In addition to the leadership of Moskowitz, redshirt sophomores Tanis Baldwin and Ben Barrett along with Rutto have been steady contributors for Wolfpack scoring. Junior Phillip Hall and freshman Ian Shanklin have also posted the best placement and 8K time, respectively, of the season for NC State despite running unattached.
Ranked third in the conference and 29th nationally in the preseason, the men are currently ranked No. 22 in the nation but will have steep competition against No. 4 Syracuse and No. 11 Virginia Tech. The odds are against the Wolfpack for the ACC title, but it is very likely that the men will finish in the top three at conference championships for the 27th time in the last 29 seasons.
