RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State men’s and women’s cross-country teams will head to Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday, Oct. 19, to compete at the NCAA Pre-Nationals.
The NCAA Pre-Nationals serves as a precursor to the NCAA National Championship meet on Saturday, Nov. 23. This year’s event will consist of three races. The “A” race, which NC State’s men’s and women’s teams are in, consists of the top 32 teams selected from the most recent USTFCCCA regional and national rankings. The “B” race will feature the following 32 teams. The final race will be an open race for the teams not selected for the first two races, with “A” and “B” qualifying teams permitted to enter three additional athletes into that event.
Meet Information: Click here.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pack was last in action on Friday, Oct. 4, at the Sean Earl Loyola Invitational and the ECU Pirate Invitational.
The women’s team scored 71 points, finishing behind Alabama, which took first with 57 points at Loyola. Junior Grace Hartman led the Pack for the second time this season, placing fourth with a time of 19:16.96. Hannah Gapes finished sixth (20:05.98), and Fiona Smith rounded out the top three finishers for NC State in 14th (20:05.98).
The men’s team placed seventh out of 15 teams with a score of 179. Graduate student Brett Gardner was the top finisher for the Pack, taking 11th place with a time of 23:17.97. Toby Gualter followed in 13th place at 23:26.10.
Freshman Noah Valyo ran as an official member of NC State for the first time in his collegiate career, finishing third for the team and placing 37th with a time of 23:57.81.
Five members of the Pack competed at the ECU Pirate Invitational:
Men’s 8K
(34) Travis Koekemoer // 24:39.0
(42) Elliott McArthur // 24:58.3
(62) Marco Evans // 25:13.3
Women’s 6K
(31) Olivia Haas // 22:36.9
(105) Sierra Collins // 23:47.5
Pack in the Polls
The women’s team is currently ranked No. 5 nationally, and No. 1 in the Southeast Region, while the men have advanced to No. 8 in the Southeast Region as announced by the USTFCCCA in most recent rankings.
