The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1487679
26 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER fter the NC State men's basketball team won the national title in 1983, Wolfpack athletics had to wait 38 years for an- other team champion- ship. Last fall, NC State women's cross country broke through, winning the first NCAA team title for a women's program at the school. The same Wolfpack women's cross country program made sure there would not be another long drought. On Nov. 19 in Stillwater, Okla., NC State, sparked by the combination of junior Katelyn Tuohy and senior Kelsey Chmiel, won a second consecutive na- tional championship. Tuohy also took home the individ- ual title, setting a course record at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course with a time of 19:27.7 for the 6-kilometer race. Chmiel was not far behind in third place. "I'm so proud of every one of the women that ran … and the women that aren't even [in Stillwater]," NC State head coach Laurie Henes said postrace. "This is a program that is not just made up of the people that ran here today. Everyone has a role, and the people up front played their role perfectly." NC State and Alabama traded narrow leads in the team standings throughout the race. Alabama had a strong first four runners, all finishing in the top 14 for individual team points. Wolfpack senior Sam Bush repeated as an All-American by placing 15th. Two runners who finished ahead of her were competing individually and not for schools that were in contention for the team title, which meant that Bush scored 13th in team points. Senior Ne- vada Mareno crossed 29th and was 24th in team points. "We talked about how from 4K to 5K is actually very challenging and [it's im- portant] to make sure you have some- thing left for the last kilometer," Henes said. "I think Katelyn and Kelsey did that well. Sam Bush and Nevada did that very well." New Mexico ran in a tightly packed group, with all of its entrants finishing between 20th and 34th in team points. The question for NC State was whether it could get a fifth runner across the line in time to repeat as national champ. Freshman Brooke Rauber made sure that would happen with a late kick, moving up 17 spots in the final kilometer to get the 74th-most team points. Meanwhile, Alabama's final runner finished well behind Rauber, giving NC State separation from the Tide. In the final team standings, NC State had 114 points, while New Mexico fin- ished second at 140 and Alabama slipped late to third at 166. BACK TO BACK NC State Women's Cross Country Repeats As NCAA Champion A