The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/368728
68 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY BRUCE WINKWORTH N C State will field a talented men's cross country team this fall. That much is never in doubt. Excellence is the Wolfpack's calling card in cross country. The Wolf- pack men have won 15 Atlantic Coast Conference championships in the last 28 years (including 12 of the last 18), finished in the top 20 at the NCAA Champion- ships 19 times since 1984, and produced a multitude of All-Americans and All-ACC performers. With that said, the Ryan Hill-Andrew Colley era is over, and what an era it was. Between them, Hill and Colley were named All-America six times and All-ACC eight times, won two individual conference championships and led the Wolfpack to a pair of conference team championships. Both turned in top-10 individual finishes at the NCAA Championships. And that's just in cross country. Their exploits spilled over to track and field, where they dominated the conference in distance races for years. With Hill (2008-11) and Colley (2010-13) no longer in the picture, NC State will line up a very talented but very young men's cross country team in 2014. That is a concern. "You don't replace Colley and Hill with a person or persons," NC State head coach Rollie Geiger said. "You replace them with a team. The idea for us is that we're going to get better throughout the lineup versus trying to replace those two." As usual, Geiger has abundant talent at his disposal, but this will be one of the youngest squads he has coached in 35 years on the job. Don't misunderstand. Geiger is conceding nothing. This team has gifted runners up and down the roster and it will line up and compete. That much you can take to the bank. Redshirt junior Graham Crawford, a two-time All-ACC performer in both cross country and track, figures to be the Pack's lead runner in 2014. A four-time NCAA qualifier in track and a two-time all-re- gional runner in cross country, Crawford is a legitimate All-America candidate. The starting lineup begins with him. Fifth-year senior Michael Mansy and redshirt junior Bobby Mintz, however, are the only other experienced upperclassmen on the team. Mansy has been in the start- ing lineup most of the past two seasons, lining up at the NCAA Championships in 2012 and '13. Mintz started twice each of the last two seasons, including the last two ACC Championships and the 2013 NCAA Championships. After those two, the roster gets young in a hurry. Half of the 24 athletes on the roster are rookies — eight true freshmen and four redshirt freshmen. Five more are in their third year, but only their second year of varsity competition. Talent is a wonderful thing, but no sport mistreats its young quite like men's cross country. "In high school, it was boys' cross coun- try," Geiger said. "This is men's cross country. It's a big difference." ■ PREVIEW MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY ■ By The Numbers 1 The number of true freshmen who have lined up for the Wolfpack men the last five seasons. 2 Individual ACC men's champions in the last three seasons. 5 Returning athletes who ran in the 2013 NCAA Championships. 5 Consecutive years that NC State has produced at least one All-American in men's cross country. 16 ACC team championships for the Wolfpack men. 24 Years since NC State's men went more than back-to-back years without winning an ACC championship, since 1987-90. RACING FORWARD The Wolfpack Looks To Continue A Tradition Of Excellence With Young Squad Redshirt junior Graham Crawford is a two-time all-conference and all-region performer in cross country, as well as a two-time All-ACC runner in track. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS