The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1249704
MAY/JUNE 2020 ■ 23 "I think an individual title in cross country is the hardest of any of the individual titles in the ACC to win," Laurie Henes explained (the last winner from NC State was Laura Hoer in 2010). "In track, the events are split up. She's won a couple of ACC track titles, but I know she really wanted the cross coun- try one." The primary runner to beat was Notre Dame's Anna Rohrer, a fellow senior who has finished among the top three every year she's run in the conference meet, including winning as a sophomore in 2017 before she used a redshirt the following year. The course was both hilly and muddy, as heavy rain had left sizable puddles the day before the race. Henes' strategy: run with Rohrer. "In my head going into the race I thought she was the girl to hang onto," Henes re- called. "She's going to go out hard, I have to go out hard and match every move that she makes. We get out, and I put myself in a position right behind her basically through the first mile of the race." Then going up a hill, while the two were already 10 meters ahead of the field, Henes noticed Rohrer was not responding as she an- ticipated her competitor would. Henes called an audible and went for it. That allowed her to build up a sizable lead. "We hadn't really talked about the plan in the middle, but she could sense that she was feeling good," Laurie Henes noted. "I was a little surprised that she came out with that kind of a lead, but you can tell with her that she looked very composed the whole time. "I wasn't particularly nervous when she did that, it was just not exactly what you expected." Elly Henes then had a sudden realization: it'd be embarrassing if she lost the big lead, which had swelled to almost 14 seconds two- thirds through the race. There would be no devastation, however. She ended up winning by more than 11 seconds, and more impor- tantly NC State claimed the team crown. "It was probably a relief with her to win a cross title and for the team to win four in a row," Laurie Henes said. After winning the NCAA Southeast Re- gional — a result that Elly said surprised her more than the ACC after she ran the race with a concentrated effort to conserve energy — she faced the scars of her freshman year going into the NCAA Championships. Four years ago in Terre Haute, Ind., Henes fell in a pack of runners around the 1,000-me- ter mark and her leg was stepped on, opening up a wound that bled throughout the race. This year's title meet was back in the same venue, and furthermore it would be a muddy race. Henes had the goal of having a top-10 na- tional finish in cross country during her ca- reer. To achieve it, she would have to conquer the course that left a scar that's still on her leg. "This year coming back I felt some revenge for that course and that race," she noted. The memories of that impacted Henes "in the best way," she said. "It really motivated me to get out there," Henes added. Henes finished 10th, bittersweetly, because while she met her goal and helped NC State finish in fifth place as a team, she also felt she had more in her that morning. Henes still has one more opportunity to leave her mark at NC State. She will have a year left of eligibility in track and field, and then she would like to run professionally. With her understanding the value of a proper mindset, odds are good Henes will accomplish whatever goals she has left. ■ Henes captured ACC and NCAA regional titles in cross country, and then earned All-America accolades with a 10th-place finish at the national meet. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS