The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023 ■ 25 BY MATT CARTER roclaiming that Katelyn Tuohy was a significant signing for NC State wom- en's cross country in the 2020 recruiting class would be an understatement. Tuohy was a three-time w i n n e r o f t h e G a to ra d e National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award, a three-time Nike Cross Nationals champion and in 2018 was selected as the overall Gatorade Female High School Athlete of the Year. She set numerous high school re- cords, including the fastest 5K in cross country (16:06.87) and the fastest mile in track (4:33.87). Her times in the for- mer race at that point were already on pace to make her a national title con- tender at the NCAA level. But collegiate success was not instant for Tuohy, nor did she expect it to be. "I thought maybe my senior year," Tuohy stated about her goal to win an NCAA title. When Tuohy took home the individ- ual NCAA championship on Nov. 19 by setting a course record at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Okla., with a time of 19:27.7 for the 6K, the junior arrived sooner than she expected at the top of the tro- phy platform. Tuohy, who also won the 5K race at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships last summer, has lived up to the hype, and she gave NC State ample credit. "I definitely did have a lot of pressure on me in high school, and then it car- ried into college," Tuohy said. "I think what helped me the best was just com- ing to NC State and being surrounded by a great team culture, and having a coaching staff and administration that really cared for me. "And I think having a team that per- forms so well takes pressure off you in- dividually." Tuohy's path to a title was anything but linear, she admitted. "There's some ups and downs, some injuries in between," she confessed. "I think that's just how everyone's career goes. It's never easy." Yet, by the time Tuohy stepped on the starter's line for the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championship, she had posi- tioned herself as a clear favorite with a dominating fall campaign. Tuohy was first in a loaded field at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madi- son, Wis., and then was dominant in winning both the ACC Championship (in course-record time) and the NCAA Southeast Regional. In all three races, Tuohy's biggest competitor was her own teammate, se- nior Kelsey Chmiel. In Stillwater at the NCAA Champion- ship, there was another challenger who would threaten Tuohy's quest for the ti- tle: Florida sensation Parker Valby. The redshirt sophomore set a Gators school record when she blistered the 6K at the SEC Championship in a time of 18:25.87, which was also a new meet mark. Valby's running style differed from Tuohy's. The Gator prefers to use a "catch me if you can" approach. Rac- ing with her normal early push, Valby at one point had sprinted out to a nearly 12-second lead on the rest of the field, with Tuohy positioned near the front of the next group of runners. "We talked beforehand that she would run out fast from the gun. I stayed back and went with the pack to catch her," Tuohy told ESPN in her post-race in- terview. "Then when she reached the 3K mark, the gap was a little bigger than I like. I made the choice to catch up and just started to try to time myself from there." Tuohy was able to catch Valby on the final uphill climb and powered to the finish 3.2 seconds ahead, with Chmiel using a late surge to come home with a strong third-place showing. By Tuohy's own admission, the tro- phies and ribbons she has accumulated during her decorated career are plenti- ful. "The ones that mean a lot to me, I hang up," she explained. "The rest go in the attic or in a storage unit." It's a safe bet that her national title- winning trophy from the NCAA Cham- pionship will get a special place in the trophy case. It was for exactly this rea- son that she never considered skipping college to train professionally. "I've always wanted to go to college," Tuohy said. "If you ask any professional who went through the NCAA system, they'll tell you there's nothing like col- lege cross country. The atmosphere is crazy, especially at the championship level. "Having that team aspect is some- thing you don't have, really at all, when you're professional." Tuohy has already turned her focus to the upcoming track season, and not long after winning the NCAA cross country title, she inked a name, image and likeness deal with adidas. She has not had much time to reflect on the latest, perhaps most significant, accomplishment in an already storied career. Her focus is on what more can be done. "I don't know if it's really sunk in," she acknowledged. "I think after each race, I just go on to the next. "Maybe a few years from now I'll look back and realize what I did. Once I ac- complish one thing, it's like, 'All right, what's the next goal?'" ■ Tuohy has now won national titles in cross country and the outdoor 5,000-meter run. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS CONFIRMING THE HYPE Former Prep Sensation Katelyn Tuohy Captures NCAA Women's Cross Country Individual Title P