The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2026 ■ 43 ting her collegiate season off to a delayed start, having qualified for the World Ath- letics Road Running Championships, where she will compete in the 5-kilome- ter race for her native New Zealand. The event is set to take place Sept. 19-20 in Copenhagen. Additionally, Hartman is coming back from a hip problem that hasn't prevented her from training but will likely keep her out of action in September so that she's fully ready for the season's most impor- tant meets later in the year. "I think our lineup at most of our early-season meets will look somewhat different than it will look the rest of the time," Henes said. "We'll be careful with Hannah coming back from Copenhagen. We'll be careful with Grace coming back. I think the lineup could look slightly dif- ferent throughout the season, but we got used to that last year, and we were able to be successful in November." Even with Gapes and Hartman work- ing their way back, the Pack will bring plenty of star power into its upcoming campaign. There's Michalak, who last year moved up 131 places from her 160th- place finish at nationals as a freshman, and Napoleon, a steeplechase standout who battled Achilles problems last year but "is good to go" this fall, Henes said. Michalak and Napoleon are joined by Engelhardt, a decorated high school run- ner from Ventura, Calif., who shined in all three phases of the collegiate track season, starting with the cross country campaign. She was the ACC's 2025 Cross Country Freshman of the Year after plac- ing 10th at the league championship in 19:45.5 and 51st at nationals with a time of 19:32.5. Engelhardt has been primarily fo- cused on track events like the mile run, in which she won an ACC title and was third at nationals during the 2026 indoor season, but she's also been a major asset to the cross country team. "For her, the bigger picture and fo- cus is trying to make U.S. teams and do things on the track," Henes said. "But she would be building a big strength base in the fall no matter what, so why not do it with your best friends, with a chance to win championships?" Taking Steps While NC State welcomes back an abundance of proven competitors, it fig- ures to have a big challenge on its hands from BYU this fall. The Cougars finished with 130 points to the Wolfpack's 114 at last year's NCAA Championship, and they bring back the second-place indi- vidual finisher in star sophomore Jane Hedengren. There are other potential threats as well, like Oregon and New Mexico, but the Pack's focus is internal. "The only thing we can control," Henes said, "is how we're preparing and making sure that we're taking steps and developing in the right way, being ready to go in those races in October and No- vember." That approach has helped NC State become one of the most successful women's cross country programs of the NCAA era. With its four national titles, the Pack is tied with Oregon for fourth place all-time. Only Villanova (nine), BYU (six) and Stanford (five) have more NCAA championships. Last year's title was especially grati- fying, because it showed the program could thrive even without the stars who had spearheaded its earlier title runs — Katelyn Tuohy, Kelsey Chmiel, Sam Bush and others who had moved on. Henes had wanted to develop a rep- licable model for success, one built on savvy high school recruiting and dili- gent culture-building. The 2025 cham- pionship was evidence that her approach was working. This year's team could of- fer even more affirmation, and Henes is also high on her five-member freshman class, giving rise to optimism about the program's long-term future. "It's nice to have a lot of experience going in, and we've got some good new- comers, too," she said. "Every year, the team is a little bit different, but this is a very similar situation to last year with the same leaders, the same women who've been through it before coming back, so that's nice." ■ Laurie Henes (second from right) has led the Wolfpack to four national championships in the past five seasons. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS