The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/430118
60 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Seniors Joanna Thompson and Kenyetta Iyevbele are former All-Americans in track — Thompson in the 10,000 meters two years ago, and Iyevbele in the 800 meters in 2011. Thompson also has a pair of All-America seasons in cross country under her belt, in- cluding this past fall. Junior Erika Kemp and redshirt sopho- more Megan Moye both had solid cross country seasons. Kemp competed last year mostly in the 5,000 meters, while Moye con- tributed in the 1,500. Redshirt sophomore Samantha George could help in the 1,500, plus true freshmen Megan Rempel and Gi- anna Frontera could be factors down the road in the middle-distance events and in the distance races, respectively. During the recent rise of the women's track program, Geiger has focused on elevating the sprints, and that should prove beneficial in 2015. Paisley Simmons earned All-ACC hon- ors indoors and outdoors as a true freshman a year ago, in the 60-meter dash and 200-me- ter dash indoors, and in the 100-meter dash outdoors. Tiana Patillo and Dejah Arnold both redshirted as true freshmen a year ago, and J'den Williams ran the 100 as a redshirt freshman last season. Geiger sees the trio as potential scorers in the sprints. Then there's Alexis Perry, who earned All-ACC honors in the long jump in both the indoor and outdoor campaigns and in the 100-meter hurdles as a sophomore in 2014, making her the team's leading point pro- ducer at both the indoor and outdoor confer- ence meets. She returns to give the Wolfpack a potential national presence in both events. Fifth-year senior Lacey Shuman earned All- ACC honors in the high jump and is back for her final season as well. Noting The Pack • Conference expansion continues to make life more difficult in track and field. The ACC scores points for the top eight in each event at its con- ference championship events, yet the league now features 15 teams, several with outstanding track and field programs. As Wolfpack head coach Rollie Geiger pointed out, scoring only the top eight made sense when there were eight teams in the league, but the ACC is almost twice that big now. The combination of improving performances and the depth of the con- ference makes an eighth-place finish a truly difficult bar to clear. • NC State's trio of All-American throwers is a first for the program. In fact, prior to Nicole Chavis (weight throw, indoors), SeQuoia Watkins (discus, USTFCCCA) and Tremanisha Taylor (shot put, indoors) earning All-America honors a year ago, NC State had never had a woman thrower earn All- America honors, despite a strong tradition in those events. Before 2014, in fact, the Pack had just three All-Americans in all field events — Chris Arends (high jump, 1984), Sherlane Armstrong (triple jump, 1998 and 2000) and Karimah Shepard (long jump and triple jump, 2013). • Joanna Thompson, the latest in a long line of standout women's distance runners dating back to the late 1980s, is a three-time All-American, twice in cross country and two years ago in the 10,000 meters outdoors. Key Athletes To Watch Junior Nicole Chavis, throws Chavis earned All-America honors for the first time last year with her sixth-place finish in the weight throw at indoor nationals. She also earned All-ACC honors both indoors and outdoors. Tremanisha Taylor and SeQuoia Watkins easily could have been listed here instead. Junior Alexis Perry, hurdles and jumps Perry is eminently capable of scoring points in multiple events, which is a major bonus. She turned in the ACC's best mark in the long jump last year at the Raleigh Relays. She also earned all-conference honors in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles outdoors, and the long jump and the 60-meter hurdles indoors. Sophomore Paisley Simmons, sprints Simmons had an auspicious freshman season: All-ACC in the 100 meters and an NCAA regional qualifier in the 100 and 200 meters, registering the second- and third-fastest times in the 100 meters in the history of the Wolfpack women's program. Sophomore Paisley Simmons earned All-ACC honors in the 100 meters, and was an NCAA regional qualifier in both the 100 and 200 meters a year ago. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS ■ By The Numbers 5 All-Americans on the women's team — Nicole Chavis (weight throw, indoors), SeQuoia Watkins (discus, USTFCCCA) and Tremanisha Taylor (shot put, indoors) in the throws a year ago, Joanna Thompson in the 10,000 meters in 2013 and Kenyetta Iyevbele in the 800 meters in 2011. 5 As in top-five finishes at the ACC Outdoor Cham- pionships the last two years. The Wolfpack took fifth place a year ago and third in 2013. The back-to-back top-five finishes were the first for NC State since 2004 and '05. 13 Individual ACC champions for the Wolfpack in the last 10 years.