The N.C. State men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the NCAA Southeast Regional in Louisville, K.Y. Saturday. The Pack finished third in the men’s race with 131 points, behind William & Mary and Duke, and finished fourth in the women’s race with 153 points, behind North Carolina, Duke and Virginia.
Freshman Laura Hoer won the individual women’s championship in the 6k women’s race, becoming only the sixth cross country athlete, men’s or women’s, in school history to win four races in one season. Junior Andie Cozzarelli finished ninth and Senior Kara McKenna finished 19th, and both earned all-regional honors.
The men’s top runners were redshirt-freshman Andrew Colley, who finished sixth in the men’s 10k race, and junior Ryan Hill, who finished in 11th place.
The top two teams in each race received automatic bids to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Ind. The NC State men’s and women’s teams both will compete in the National Championships, receiving at-large bids based on a criteria of strength of schedule and out-performing top competition throughout the season.
While many athletes on each team, such as Hoer, would qualify as individuals to compete, both teams expressed their excitement about having the chance to compete together at Nationals.
“You have individuals that would qualify, but it’s about the team,” men’s coach Rollie Geiger said.
“These girls are so close and do everything together,” Henes said. “They really want their teammates with them at Nationals and that will be good for them.”
Hoer’s excitement is not only about having her teammates with her at Nationals. She’s also excited about her team’s opportunity to have its best race in its biggest competition of the season.
“I am definitely happy with how well the team performed at Regionals because it got us into Nationals, but we know that wasn’t even our best race,” Hoer said. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to race even better. Once we run to our full potential, it will be really incredible and hopefully that will be on next Monday.”
Hoer said the team has been pushing to be in this position all year.
“You can see the fire in all of our eyes, we all put in hard summers and a hard season,” Hoer said. “You didn’t want to go there by yourself, you wanted your team to be with you. So you pushed each other harder each day and we wouldn’t be where we are without the help of each other.”
Geiger said his team understands that getting an at-large bid to compete in the championships gives it an opportunity to make a statement, not celebrate how it earned it.
“It’s not about the invitation,” Geiger said. “It’s about having a good day, a day to be remembered.”
