As the starting line for the upcoming cross country season approaches, both the men’s and women’s teams are preparing to build on the success of last season, when they finished in first and fourth place, respectively, at the ACC Championships.
The Pack welcomes back a slew of experienced runners on the men’s side, including junior Ryan Hill, a 2009 All-American and two-time All-ACC selection. The native of Hickory, N.C., said the team has been training together all summer in preparation to defend its ACC crown.
“We’ve been meeting up all summer and running together,” Hill said. “A big group of us went to Colorado and we did some training out there. So we’ve been preparing all summer.”
Perhaps the only thing that will help the Pack more than training in the extreme altitude of Colorado will be the insight of the assistant coaches. Former Wolfpack All-Americans Bobby Mack, Stephen Furst and John Martinez headline a group of assistants serving under long-time coach Rollie Geiger and Laurie Henes.
“All three of them have gone through the program and achieved big things,” redshirt sophomore Patrick Campbell said. “It’s good for the younger runners to see how they did things. Me and Ryan have looked at Steve Furst’s times to see what he achieved when he was running here at N.C. State so we could aim for the same.”
A key ingredient in the men’s success will be redshirt freshman Andrew Colley. After redshirting last cross country season due to injuries, Campbell said Colley is ready to step into the limelight and provide the men’s team with another quality runner.
“He was hurt the majority of last fall but had a great spring and ended up qualifying for the Junior World Championships in cross country,” Campbell said. “I saw how talented he was in Colorado and I think everyone is excited to see what he can do this year.”
The women’s team consists of a mix of experienced upperclassman and young talent. Junior Emily Pritt, a 2009 All-American and All-ACC selection, said the team wants to build on its fourth-place finish at the ACC Championship last season.
“It was an improvement from the previous year, but we are definitely setting our sights a little bit higher this year,” Pritt said.
Redshirt senior Kara McKenna, a freshman on the 2006 ACC Championship team, said she is hoping to stay healthy and finish this season on the same note as her freshman campaign.
“I am just focusing on improving,” McKenna said. “I haven’t had as strong of a cross country season as I would like to have yet, so I just want to run to my potential.”
Runners attribute the success of the cross country program — which has recorded 21 national top-10 finishes — to the genuine bond that exists between the coaches and athletes.
“The thing that is great about [coach Geiger and coach Henes] is that they are very individualized,” Pritt said. “They take everyone and have an individual meeting to discuss your individual plan. They really care about your specific needs and how to make you perform your best that season. Paying attention to each runner separately makes the whole team better.”
The men’s and women’s cross country seasons are scheduled to kick off Sept. 17 with the Wolfpack Invite at the WakeMed Soccer Park. Both teams will be looking to duplicate their success at last year’s event, when the men took home first place and the women captured a second-place finish.
“It’s our first meet on the schedule, but it’s really just a tune-up,” Hill said. “Everyone enjoys it because it’s here in Raleigh and everyone can see what kind of shape they are in.”
