The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1497827
MAY/JUNE 2023 ■ 29 of an elite group of athletes who enrolled with the pressure of outsized expecta- tions: Eddie Berlinski, Roman Gabriel, Percy Moorman and Mario Williams in football; David Thompson, Damien Wilkins, Julius Hodge, Jackie Moreland and Chris Washburn in men's basketball; and Linda "Hawkeye" Page and Andrea Stinson in women's basketball. Some of them left large legacies, some faded away. Few lived up to their reputations, and even fewer ex- ceeded them. Tuohy has a chance to do both. "We have had runners come in with a lot of at- tention," said Henes, the Wolfpack's head coach of cross country since 2005 and women's indoor and outdoor track and field since 2019. "But we had never experienced any- thing like this." Training A Champion Tuohy enrolled at NC State at less than 100 percent, still recovering from a high school in- jury. She arrived when CO- VID-19 had shut down or lim- ited most college athletics. She ran her first race at the 2020 NCAA Cross Country Championship, which was held in Stillwater, Okla., on March 15, 2021. She finished 24th, the highest of any freshman in the field but not exactly where many thought she could be. Later that year, she finished 15th in the 2021 Cross Country Championship, helping the Wolfpack win its first wom- en's team title since 1980 and first title in any sport since 1983. Tuohy won the individual title last fall, and the Wolfpack repeated as team champion. Yes, she is talented and accomplished, but that doesn't really tell the story of why she's been so successful. Tuohy has claimed individual NCAA championships in cross country and both indoor and outdoor track. She's also been part of two national title-winning cross country squads. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS