The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1497827
48 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Jim Wilkins Set A Standard For The NC State Distance Runners Who Followed PACK PAST BY TIM PEELER J im Wilkins walks with a cane now, a long haul from his days as a ground- breaking middle-distance runner for NC State a half century ago. Twelve different surgeries caused by degenerative genetics, several infec- tions and botched physician care make it a little more difficult to get around than when he used to train 20 miles a day during the formative years of a distance-running program that has historically been one of the most suc- cessful of the school's two dozen varsity sports. Wilkins was NC State's first All- American in track and field, finishing seventh in the mile run as a freshman at the 1971 NCAA Outdoor Champion- ships. He was seventh in the 1,500-me- ter race as a sophomore, fifth in the NCAA Indoor Championships 2-mile run in 1974 and seventh at the outdoor 3-mile run in 1974. His times from that four-year ca- reer still rank among the best in school history, while running under the loose training of early track coach Jim West- cott. "We didn't really have a lot of coach- ing at that time," Wilkins said. "They would give us a training plan every week that mostly included an 8-mile run in the morning and a 12-mile run in the afternoon, six days a week." Training regimens and coaching phi- losophies have changed greatly since then, but Wilkins' results still stand out in the modern online record book. "From the beginning of our time here," said 40-year veteran coach Rol- lie Geiger, "Jim has always been some- one we looked at as the standard for the program." Self-Taught Speed A native of Roxboro, N.C., Wilkins grew up pulling tobacco on the family farm a few miles away from the Virginia state line. His prep training regimen was much like that of his contemporary, men's basketball All-American and na- tional player of the year David Thomp- son of Boiling Springs: His self-taught speed and technique came from running down his family's dirt driveway to and from the main highway — right past a cemetery. "That put a little spring in my step," said the 72-year-old retired extension agent, educator and tobacco farmer. By the time he was a freshman in high school, Wilkins was easily able to make Wilkins was the Pack's first All-American in track and field. At a meet in 1973, he finished the mile in 4:00.5, setting a school record that stood until 2012. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS