The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1506671
44 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT HERB mid the fog of competition, Sam Bush wasn't entirely sure she was in a good spot as she hurtled toward the finish line at the 2021 NCAA Women's Cross Country Championships. In most races, Bush knew that if she could see the backs of NC State team- mates Allie Hays and Hannah Steelman, she was right where she needed to be. But the national meet was a stampede, with runners everywhere blocking her view. Then she heard a spectator yell out her place — somewhere in the forties, just short of All-America status — and she knew she needed to catch up to her team- mates. "That's how I gauged how I was doing, because you don't really know what place you're in in some of the big races," Bush recalled. "At nationals, they yelled at me that I was fortysomething. I knew, since I was the 'fifth man,' that if I made All- American, we would be in a really good position. CUT TO THE CHASE Sam Bush And Her NC State Teammates Pursue A Third Consecutive NCAA Title A