The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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unattached during the outdoor track season, but none of that quartet has ever competed with the varsity. That's a talented core to build a team around, but aside from Colley, Crawford and Mansy, there is little experience to call on. Those three will form the cornerstone of the 2013 squad, with Colley — an AllAmerican in cross country the last two years and a 2013 All-American in outdoor track in the 5,000 meters — the unquestioned leader. It takes more than three, however. Seven runners line up for most races, and the top five score points. Someone else will have to step up for the Pack to be successful. "The two things that we need to happen," Geiger said, "we need Andrew Colley and Bobby Andrews to be fifth-year seniors. That's vital. And then the redshirt sophomore class and the redshirt freshman class really need to be prepared to run at a level where we can accomplish the goals of the program." The goals of the program remain unchanged from year to year, regardless of personnel changes: Win the ACC championship, run well enough at regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships and finish in the top 10 at nationals. Accomplishing those goals takes talent, but it also takes depth. And that brings us back to the subject of freshmen. Given the number of openings in the starting lineup, this would appear to be a year of opportunity for incoming recruits. And the Wolfpack's incoming freshman class is, even by Geiger's high standards, potentially one of his very best. Geiger certainly is not averse to lining up freshmen. He'll line up whichever athletes give his team the best chance to win. That said, however, Geiger has redshirted every true freshman to come into the program since Ryan Hill in 2008. The nature of men's cross country makes it very difficult for true freshmen to succeed. ■ By The Numbers 23 16 4 3 0 Years since NC State's men went more than back-to-back seasons without winning an ACC championship, since 1987-90. ACC team championships for the Wolfpack men. Consecutive years that NC State has produced at least one All-American in men's cross country. Returning athletes who ran in the 2012 NCAA Championships. The number of true freshmen who have competed for the Wolfpack men the last four seasons. Fifth-year senior Andrew Colley has earned all-conference, all-region and All-America honors each of the past two seasons, and he is coming off a 16th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2012. photo by Cheryl Treworgy/NC State Media Relations "The issue in men's cross country is that it's one of the few sports where when you graduate from high school, we change the game," Geiger said. "And it's not a minor change. You're doubling the racing distance from 5,000 meters to 10,000, and that's a major difference. We're telling these kids, 'You know that 5,000 meters you ran in high school? Well, add another 5,000 to that.' So development and maturity are so important in the sport, and we're awfully young." Geiger admits that the odds are that one or two true freshmen will be in the lineup. Athletes To Watch Fifth-year senior Andrew Colley Despite not lining up until November last season, Colley finished third at the ACC Championships, third at the NCAA Southeast Regional and 16th at the NCAA Championships to earn all-conference, all-region and AllAmerica honors for the second year running. Head coach Rollie Geiger hopes to have Colley healthy the entire season, and needs Colley to be the program's bellwether if the Wolfpack is to achieve its goals for the season. Redshirt sophomore Graham Crawford Crawford was all-conference and all-region in cross country a year ago, then advanced to the NCAA regionals in outdoor track (in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters) in the spring. Building on last year's breakthrough season would be huge, both for Crawford and the Wolfpack. Fifth-year senior Bobby Andrews Andrews broke into the lineup a year ago, making three starts: the adidas Cross Country Invitational, the Wisconsin Open and the NCAA Southeast Regional. Andrews had very limited experience prior to 2012, but as a fifth-year senior on one of Rollie Geiger's youngest teams Andrews needs to provide leadership. No one leads from the sidelines. Between Bakri Abushouk, Sibby Hanson, Nick Link and Jacob Thompson, Geiger has a quartet of rookies with impressive credentials, tremendous upside and the potential to contribute early in their careers. Abushouk, from Cary, was the North Carolina state cross country champion and the Gatorade Runner of the Year in North Carolina as a senior. Hanson (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) was a state champion in both track and cross country. Link (Blacksburg, Va.) was a state champion who earned AllAmerica honors by finishing 11th at the Nike Cross Country Nationals. Thompson (Louisville, Ky.) was a 12-time state champion in track and cross country, and he earned All-America honors in cross country with a fifth-place finish at the 2012 Foot Locker Nationals. "This is a very talented group," Geiger said. "They're all national-level recruits. But then we've got to go back and look at what we're doing. To be honest, I think someone as a true freshman needs to get in a slot where they're not just the seventh guy, but they're banging it around and closing and scoring points for NC State. I think that very well could happen." ■ Noting The Pack • ACC expansion will have an enormous impact on ACC cross country. On the men's side, Notre Dame and Syracuse have been traditionally strong in recent years. Syracuse racked up national top‑15 finishes each year from 2009-12, while Notre Dame was in the top 30 each of the last three seasons. • When Andrew Colley finished 16th at last year's NCAA Championships, it marked the 52nd time an athlete coached by Rollie Geiger earned All-America honors in cross country. Geiger has coached 171 all-conference runners, has coached the Wolfpack men and/or women into the national top 10 a total of 22 times, and has won 41 ACC team championships (counting cross country and track and field). He has been conference coach of the year 28 times in cross country, men's or women's, and five times in track and field. • The NC State men's cross country team has won 12 of the last 17 ACC championships and 14 of the last 21. The Wolfpack men have won 16 conference championships in all, 15 of them under Geiger. 64 ■ the wolfpacker 62,64.Men's Cross Country Preview.indd 64 8/23/13 2:49 PM