The Wolfpacker

May 2014

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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78 ■ THE WOLFPACKER cross country tradition with his academic prowess. On Feb. 17, the ACC named him its cross country male scholar-athlete of the year. A week later, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Colley its Division I men's scholar-athlete of the year for cross country. "Somehow, that got lost in the shuffle with all of Andrew's accomplished this year," Geiger said. "That's a tremendous tribute to Andrew. We have two huge tro- phies waiting for him when he's finished with his season." This spring, on April 13, Colley became the first NC State athlete ever to run a sub-four-minute mile in an officially sanc- tioned event, turning in a time of 3:59.34 at the Blue Shoes Elite Mile in Greenville, S.C. (For the record, Hill — who else? — ran a 3:56.78 mile in an international event two years ago, but he was not run- ning as an NC State-affiliated runner in that race.) "That was the first time I've ever [run the sub-four-minute mile]," Colley said. "Looking back on it, it's funny. I broke four minutes, but I saw a few things I messed up in the race. I'm kind of excited to get a chance to run it again and see how far under four I can go. That was really a good experience, and being able to race with those pros is always a good time." A week after setting the school record in the mile, on April 19, Colley finished second in the 10,000 meters at the ACC Championships, running the 10K course in a school-record time of 29:11.08, but losing to Martin Hehir of Syracuse by less than a second. Colley had little time to stew over losing the 10K championship at the conference meet. The last chapter of his final season at NC State will be the 5,000-meter run, the event in which he earned All-America honors a year ago. "On paper, his best event is the 5,000 meters," Geiger said. "He's raced twice at a shorter event, 1,500 meters, and he broke four minutes, which is huge. He also raced over his event at the conference meet in the 10,000 meters. That is all preparation for a 5,000 meter time down the road." Colley has yet to turn in an NCAA- qualifying time in the 5K, so he'll run at the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford May 4-5. NCAA Regionals will be in Jack- sonville, Fla., the weekend of May 29-31, and the NCAA Championships will be June 11-14 in Eugene, Ore. Colley finished 12th nationally in the 5K a year ago. This time around, he's healthy and training better than he ever has, so he's shooting for the gold. "I had some issues with my hips and my glutes last year at nationals, so I really want to go for the win," Colley said. "I really want to be in that top part and racing for the win. It's my last chance and this is the best shape I've ever been in. I haven't had this much training without injury in a long time, knock on wood, so I'm hoping I can really challenge for the win." This spring will be the last time Colley runs as an amateur, but it won't be the last time he runs. He intends to follow in Hill's footsteps and run professionally. He will earn his degree in financial analysis ac- counting in June, but he's in no hurry to put that degree to use just yet. "I'll put it this way, I like running a lot more than I like the accounting," Colley said with a hearty laugh. "The degree is something to have. It's a good back-pocket thing because everybody always seems to need an accountant. But running profes- sionally is the only thing I can see myself doing right now." ■ Multi-Event Athletes Make Major Impact Multi-event track athletes are worth their weight in Apple stock. Get an athlete who can score points in more than one event and it's like getting two or more athletes for the price of one scholarship. NC State track and field head coach Rollie Geiger has several multi-event athletes on his rosters, but two in par- ticular, Jonathan Addison and Alexis Perry, have given the Wolfpack extra bang for its scholarship bucks this season. "They've been our leading scorers, both indoors and outdoors, at the conference championships," Geiger said. "They're athletes who can compete at a high level in more than one event." Addison, a sophomore jumper and sprinter from Raleigh, took fifth place in the high jump and second in the long jump at the ACC Indoor Championships, then won the long jump at the ACC Outdoor Championships. He also runs the 60-meter dash indoors, and the 100 and 200 meters outdoors. He had four first-place finishes during the indoor season and four more outdoors. Perry, a sophomore from Durham, truly competes in multiple events. She runs the sprints and hurdles on the track, and also competes in the long jump and high jump in the field events. She finished third in both the 60-meter hurdles and the long jump at the ACC indoors, and then finished second in both the 100-meter hurdles and the long jump outdoors. She set a school record for the long jump at 21-2 at the Raleigh Relays, and won two hurdle events during the indoor season and two more outdoors. "Alexis is ranked high nationally in both the hurdles and the long jump with national-level marks," Geiger said. "Jonathan has jumped the long jump with a national-level mark. He can come back and high jump for us, run relays for us. Again, they both can do so many things for you and at a high level. They've really become two of the cornerstones of our program." One additional trait they share in common is an interest in one another, as in boyfriend and girlfriend. That's not a factor on the track, but in a program that values its athletes as people, any human-interest angle matters. "They're both great students, they both come from really great families, they both love NC State, and both are invested in the program," Geiger said. "As a coach you can't find two better athletes to have in your program, one on the men's side and one on the women's side. "We're getting better on the women's side, and we're gradually getting better on the men's side, and those are two of the athletes as we look to build up these programs, great students, great families, it's like a package deal." — Bruce Winkworth Sophomore Jonathan Addison took fifth place in the high jump and second in the long jump at the ACC Indoor Championships, then won the long jump at the ACC Outdoor Championships. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS 76,78.Andrew Colley.indd 78 4/29/14 11:58 AM

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