The perennial national title contenders are winning big again, as NC State cross country earned a first-place finish in the women’s Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational, while the men’s squad earned an 11th-place finish.
Featuring a 6K race on the women’s side of the Chicago-based event, the Wolfpack dominated the top of the leaderboard with the two top times and four of the top-10 finishes. As the Pack pursues a fourth national title in five seasons, the red and white are showcasing that it once again has as much talent as anybody in the nation.
Superstar senior Hannah Gapes continued her impressive campaign with a first-place finish, clocking in at 19:19.69 — a full 15 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Leaving no doubt that she was the event’s fastest runner, Gapes is quickly earning respect after picking up her second top finish of the season. The New Zealand native is looking to close her collegiate career strong after earning her first All-American honors last season.
Behind Gapes, sophomore Bethany Michalak finished second at 19:34.83. Last season, Michalak made her collegiate cross country debut at the same event, posting a time of 20:46.8 — her best mark of her freshman campaign. Beating her previous time by over a full minute, Michalak is on the path to be the Wolfpack’s next star.
Rounding out the top 10 finishers, graduate student Brooke Rauber and freshman Sadie Engelhardt earned ninth and tenth place finishes, respectively. Engelhart’s time of 20:00.18 is especially impressive since the event marked her collegiate debut. Already competing with the best in the event, watch for Engelhardt to emerge as a key contributor for NC State early in her college career.
NC State also placed two more runners in the event’s top 25, with junior Kate Putnam finishing in 13th place and junior Jolena Quarzo taking a 21st-place finish. Putnam showed remarkable improvement from her finish in the same event last season. With a time of 20:02.02, Putnam cruised past her previous mark of 21:07.0 at the Chicago-based race. Meanwhile, after not competing in cross country last season, Quarzo’s time of 20:16.28 is a respectable mark that can be a confidence booster for the Pennsylvania native.
On the men’s side, where runners ran an 8K course, the Pack didn’t fare quite as well with an 11th-place team finish and no individual runners inside the top 20. Taking 25th place overall, sophomore Noah Valyo took the top spot for the red and white with a time of 24:06.11. After setting a personal best at the track last season with a time of 23:57.9, Valyo ran the course slightly slower this time around. Just behind Valyo, NC State’s junior Luke Wiley finished in 28th place with a time of 24:13.18.
Elsewhere, the Pack sent a contingent of runners to Greenville, North Carolina, to compete at the Dill Family Foundation Invitational.
Senior Carolina Murrell earned an impressive second-place finish with a time of 21:16.9 in the 6K event — the top runner for the Pack on the women’s side. Joining Murrell in the top 5, sophomore Ashlei Summers placed fifth with a time of 21:44.99. On the men’s side, the Wolfpack sent three runners, all competing unattached, in the 8K event. Freshman Philip Blum recorded the best time of the trio, completing the course in 24:14.68.
Next up, the Wolfpack concludes its regular season with a pair of events on Friday, Oct. 17. The Pack will send runners to both the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Panorama Farms Invitational in Charlottesville, Virginia. Following those races, postseason competition will begin Friday, Oct. 31, in Louisville, Kentucky, for the ACC Championships.
