Friday night, NC State women’s cross country started their quest for a fourth national championship in five years with a first place finish at the Adidas XC Challenge.
The team is coming off a relative down year where they didn’t win a national championship, but head coach Laurie Henes, a three-time national coach of the year, leads the effort to return to the top.
“It’s awesome being coached by her,” said junior Kate Putman, who placed second in the 5K with a personal-best time of 16:17.9.
Henes’ group is well-positioned to win some hardware, entering the season with a No. 3 national ranking in the preseason coaches’ poll. For Putman and the team, though, it’s about the process more than the results.
“Our team definitely preaches doing everything right every day,” Putman said. “Get good sleep, eat well and train hard with the girls.”
Despite the team’s emphasis on daily preparation, it remains focused on contending for another national title.
“I think everyone knows what the ultimate goal is though, whether or not it’s said,” Putman said.
Last year, depth was a bit of an issue for the women’s team, with returning seniors Grace Hartman and Hannah Gapes finishing strong at Nationals, but no other members of the Wolfpack placing higher than 50th. On Friday, Gapes had a personal-best time of 16:01.8 to lead the Pack and the competition.
This year, however, new and returning faces might change that. Among those are Sadie Englehardt, one of the most highly touted recruits of the year and a former holder of the mile time high school record. Although Englehardt didn’t race in this meet, be on the lookout for her name in future events.
Meanwhile, the red-and-white men took third place, 25 points behind Liberty.
This was a repeat of last year’s Adidas XC Challenge where Liberty also edged them out for second.
This year, the story of the race wasn’t either of those schools, but UNC, who put five athletes in the top six and finished with a 52-point lead over second-place Liberty.
“We’re all pissed off about them having put a handful of guys in front of us,” said junior Luke Wiley, who led the men with a 10th-place finish. “But we know where we are in training, and it’s a long season.”
Having such a strong rival right down the road is “good motivation,” Wiley said.
The men’s team find themselves in another rebuilding year, with a No. 8 ranking in the ACC preseason poll. Head coach Rollie Geiger is in his 44th season with the school, and his first season as a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, which he was inducted into in the spring.
“[Coach Geiger]’s had a lot of successful teams, so he knows what it takes and we know he’s got a plan,” Wiley said. “We trust him.”
A lot of new faces will look to prove themselves on the men’s team this season as top runner Brett Gardner graduated in the spring, and Wiley led them by example on Friday.
The Wolfpack now looks onward, racing next on Oct. 3, with one group competing in the ECU Pirate Invitational in Greenville and another at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago.
