Sophomore Ryan Hill knew he always wanted to run in college and thought about going to schools like N.C. State or other cross country powerhouses. But growing up, he didn’t just run.
“I played baseball all through middle school,” Hill said. “I started running in high school because I did summer track in my transition between baseball and track. I guess I knew I was talented at running because in baseball I always ran really fast around the bases and stole bases. That’s kind of where it started.”
This weekend, Hill made an early splash as he helped the Pack win its eleventh ACC title in 15 years with a fourth place finish.
Winning is nothing new to Hill. While attending Hickory High School in Hickory, Hill won the 2007 state championship in a record time of 15:30.75 and was named a Foot Locker All-American.
Head coach Rollie Geiger noticed Hill at the end of his junior year running at a track meet.
“I was impressed with the rhythm of the run,” Geiger said. “He’s very [gifted]. He has a very natural running ability. Also having observed him in high school, you have a sense of his competitive nature. Both his running style and his competitive nature stuck out.”
Despite taking visits to Louisville and Virginia, Hill knew State was the place for him and said Geiger did not have to do much convincing.
“Being an in-state kid, I was always a State fan anyway,” Hill said. “My mom went to college here so I was always a State fan. Really it was where my heart wanted to go. Virginia and Louisville weren’t the right fits and [State] was the right fit.”
Hill wasted no time making a name for himself in the program, as he was named ACC Rookie of the Year and received All-ACC honors during his freshman year. He also placed 27th at the NCAA Southeast Regional. Hill followed up his freshman year performance by being named ACC Performer of the Week twice this season in addition to helping the Pack to an ACC title.
Teammate and redshirt freshman Patrick Campbell said he sees the difference in Hill’s performance from his freshman and sophomore years.
“He’s all-around more serious about getting better at running,” Campbell said. “He does all the little things that count. He wants to be an All-American and he’s doing what it takes to get there.”
Hill’s success has a number of the underclassmen on the team looking up to him, according to Geiger.
“We have one senior on the team,” Geiger said. “There aren’t any juniors. Some are redshirt sophomores; they are a young group. But because of Ryan’s success, he’s become someone that the rest of the team looks up to, particularly for our freshmen who came in this year.”
Campbell said with such a young group of guys, Hill leads by example.
“He does all the things right,” Campbell said. “Everyone sees that if he’s excelling in things, doing certain things, that’s what they need to do too. He holds everyone accountable by how well he runs. We all want to run that well too.”
Hill eyes more than just winning ACC titles and being an All-American. One of the records he would like to break is held by former Pack runner Bob Henes, who ran his 5K in 13:46.93 in the early ‘90s.
Geiger said Hill can break Henes’ record, but believes a number of his teammates can break it as well.
“It’s a long-standing record and what’s impressive about Bob is he’s a three time ACC Cross Country Champion,” Geiger said. “When you start breaking his record, you’re breaking the record of someone that was an All-American, a special athlete for this program.”
