The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/503388
MAY 2015 ■ 15 TRACKING THE PACK Simonas Bilis, Men's Swimming As part of a clean sweep of the annual ACC men's swimming awards, the junior from Panevezys, Lithuania, was named the Men's Swimmer of the Year. Bilis set ACC conference and championship meet re - cords in the 100 freestyle and 400 free relay, and took ACC titles in the 50 and 200 frees. He won five All-American recognitions at the NCAA Championships, leading the Pack to an eighth-place overall finish. David Cooke, Men's Golf The junior from Bolingbrook, Ill., and transfer from Purdue has showcased his comfort level on his home course, the Lonnie Poole Golf Course on NC State's Centennial Campus in Raleigh. He won the Wolfpack Spring Open on April 18-19 by shooting 10-under par in two rounds. He also won the Wolfpack Intercollegiate on Oct. 6-7 on the same golf course. Both times Cooke led NC State to a team win. The Pack crushed the field by nine strokes in October and by an even larger margin of 17 strokes this spring. These are Cooke's first two career tournament wins. Robbie Mudge, Men's Tennis The senior from Winston-Salem, N.C., was honored by the ACC for the third consecutive year when he was named second-team All-ACC. Mudge, who is rated in both the ITA's singles (No. 74) and doubles (No. 26) rankings, led NC State with a career-high 24 singles wins and 27 doubles triumphs through the ACC Tournament. He has five wins over ranked opponents in singles and seven in doubles. Mudge was also named second-team all-conference as a junior when he led NCSU with 33 victories in doubles and was second on the squad with 23 singles wins. Brittni Watkins, Gymnastics Watkins, a junior, had a stellar post - season for NC State. She won the East Atlantic Gymnastics League co-champi- onship in the floor exercise on March 22 in Towson, Md. She then finished second in the all-around at the NCAA Regional in Norman, Okla., on April 4. Watkins joined classmate Michaela Woodford, who finished third, to mark the first time that two Wolfpackers individually advanced to the NCAA Championships in school history. At the semifinal session of the championship in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 17, Watkins, a native of Albany, N.Y., finished tied for 10th in all- around for second-team All-America honors. Emily Weiman, Softball The senior from Pasadena, Md., is break- ing a lot of former pitcher Abbie Sims' re- cords at NCSU. Already this year, Weiman has surpassed Sims in total career wins (103 through April 28), complete games (124), games started (159), innings pitched (1,040 1/3) and games appeared in (187). Weiman needs just 81 strikeouts and two saves to become the new standard bearer in both of those categories. She was drafted by the Pennsylvania Rebellion with the 22nd overall pick in the National Pro Fastpitch College Draft on April 1. ■ PACK PERFORMERS "NC State athletics has such a unique and vibrant history, and we really needed something that could celebrate it. We're gathering artifacts, taking bits and pieces of history of our programs with the Walk of Fame and the Hall of Fame members that have been inducted, and we will really build something that is a lasting legacy and something that will celebrate the history and tradition of NC State Athletics." — NC State associate athletics director Fred Demarest on the Reynolds Coliseum renova- tions (Technician) "We felt Bra'Lon Cherry would be a guy who could take a big step for us, and we still feel that way. Stephen Louis is a guy we're all excited about, but he couldn't go through spring practice unfortunately. Jumichael Ramos did a nice job in the spring. So did Gavin Locklear. And two guys who were redshirted and got a chance were Maurice Trowell and Elliott Davis, who we moved over from DB. He had probably the most productive spring from a big-play standpoint. I'm not nervous about it." — NC State football coach Dave Doeren on his wide receivers following spring practices (ESPN.com) "Everything is not right every snap, but they are coming out and playing with good hustle. We can grow with that. We still have a long ways to go to get better. I see steps of growth at every position, man-to-man. As long as we continue to take the proper steps going forward, we'll have a chance to be very competitive." — NC State defen- sive coordinator Dave Huxtable on his unit this spring (TheWolfpacker.com) "Then you see how easy it is on the offensive end when he gets a little space. He can make those floaters, runners; his jump shot is pretty decent, he's just so good at doing the floaters he doesn't really need to pull up for jump shots. That's a good weapon to have. Yeah, he'll be a starter in this league." — Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek on ex-Wolfpack star basketball player T.J. Warren (ArizonaSports.com) "He'll [junior point guard Anthony Barber] have intriguing backcourt running mates in West Virginia transfer Terry Henderson and sophomores Caleb and Cody Martin. Throw in a deep and established frontcourt and the potential for the Wolfpack to land a late recruit, and things could work out. Either way, given its recent history, counting out the Wolfpack isn't a smart idea." — Writer Stephen Schramm on NCSU head coach Mark Gottfried's knack for exceeding public perceptions (Fayetteville Observer) "He can roll with it and get it back and be ready to go. His background, he's a con- fident and talented kid. That's why he ended up here." — Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura on former star NC State pitcher Carlos Rodon (Chicago Tribune) "With track there's never a safe spot — you're always competing. Even if you win a national championship, you're never truly the best because there could always be someone better who just had a bad day. It's always a competition, and you never know what's going to happen." — NC State junior track star Jonathan Addison, who has reached the NCAA Championships twice in the long jump (Technician) "You were able to see him finish runs, stay on his feet, see his balance, see his vision, his patience. It was good to see." ■ NCSU football coach Dave Doeren on freshman running back Reggie Gallaspy rushing for 131 yards between the Red and White teams in the Kay Yow Spring Game April 11(Raleigh News & Observer) PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN QUOTING THE PACK