In a strange season for cross country, the NC State women’s and men’s cross country teams traveled to Stillwater, Oklahoma to compete in the 2020 NCAA cross country championships on Monday, March 15.
The women’s 6k race kicked off the championships at 12:50 p.m., and with 161 points, the Wolfpack women grabbed a second-place finish, the highest finish since 2001. The men’s 10k started at 1:40 p.m. with the NC State men’s team finishing 23rd of 30 with 547 points.
Leading the Pack women in its impressive finish, senior Hannah Steelman finished fifth overall with a time of 20:14.9. Steelman had a solid race, managing to start the race strong with a top-10 spot. From there, Steelman was able to consistently maintain her position in the top 10 and claimed the fifth spot at the end of the 6000 meters.
Joining Steelman in the top 10 was sophomore Kelsey Chmiel, finishing ninth overall with a time of 20:26.4. Over the 6000 meters, Chmiel was able to consistently improve her position to grab that top-10 finish, holding 17th by the end of the first 1000 meters and climbing all the way to eighth before crossing the finish line in ninth.
Making a strong debut in her first championship was freshman Katelyn Tuohy, who finished 24th overall in the championship. With a time of 20:41.3, Tuohy was the highest-placing freshman in the championship meet. Tuohy had a fast start for the race, holding 11th by the first 1000 meters and reaching seventh early on. With a steady running pace impressive for a true freshman, Tuohy crossed the finish line in the top 30 and helped the Wolfpack secure its second-place spot.
With such strong performances from these three runners, Steelman, Chmiel and Tuohy all left Oklahoma with All-American honors.
Also helping NC State was junior Savannah Shaw and redshirt senior Dominique Clairmonte with top-100 finishes. Clairmonte finished 63rd for the day, and Shaw was able to clock in at 98th by passing 29 other runners in the last 1000 meters.
Also running for the Wolfpack was sophomore Mariah Howlett and senior Julia Zachgo. Howlett finished off the day 130th overall, while Zachgo rounded off the squad finishing 226th.
On the men’s side, leading the Wolfpack was senior Ian Shanklin, who was the highest finisher for the Pack, clocking in at 54th with a time of 31:03.0. Shanklin was able to climb his way into the top 100 despite getting the 140th position after the first 1000 meters.
Also with a top-100 finish for NC State was junior Hannes Burger, finishing 86th with a time of 31:24.1. Burger’s top-100 finish came from a push in the last 1000 meters, advancing 20 spots to make a strong finish to benefit the Pack.
Also scoring for the Wolfpack was redshirt freshman Nate Kawalec with a 142nd-place finish, freshman Ian Harrison with a 177th-place finish and redshirt junior Gavin Gaynor with a 184th-place finish. Also seeing action in the meet was redshirt junior Joe Bistritz, who finished at 201st.
As the day came to a close, the Wolfpack headed back to Raleigh with some impressive performances and some All-American honors for the women. Now, with cross country season officially over, the NC State cross country team will look forward to competing in the outdoor track season later this month or to next cross country season.
