The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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N BY RYAN TICE C State junior Laura Hoer had an unforgettable true freshman sea- son with the Wolfpack in 2010. She won four of the team's five races before the NCAA Championships, including titles at the ACC and NCAA re- gional meets, before she placed 21st at the big race to earn All-America honors. Last year, the native of Arden, N.C., helped the Pack rank among the country's top 25 ■ PREVIEW WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY again with a 23rd-place showing at the NCAA Championships — the program's 26th such finish since the NCAA began holding a women's meet in 1981. Despite all that she has already accom- plished in her young career, Hoer admits she is a little nervous heading into the fall because she is recovering from a few off- season bumps and bruises, and the Pack's roster is chock full of talented runners. "I'm back and running again," she said. "I'm coming off a little nervous because of how talented the team is, but I do have the possibility of redshirting a season. I know if I need to do that, I can. I still have a lot of hope in what our team can do, and what I can do because of how long the season is. I'm learning how long it is and that I don't need to push it now — as long as I'm there when it counts [in the postseason], that's all that matters. "Cross country is really our only team sport, and that aspect of it is really fun. It's really important to perform for the team. Last year, we were a top-25 team, and a lot of us weren't really running to the best we can. I want to see what we can do when we are all performing at our best." If State is able to have all of its runners at full health, it could be scary good. In addition to Hoer, the roster boasts another runner on the mend in fifth-year senior Emily Pritt, a 2009 All-American in cross country who last competed during the 2010 outdoor track season. "She had a hip labral repair, which is a very serious surgery," head coach Laurie Henes said. "She is running more right now than she has in the last two years coming into the season. She provides so much leadership and is such an example for the younger athletes. She just will not Junior Laura Hoer, who earned All-America honors in 2010, helped the Wolfpack to a 23rd-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2011 — the program's 26th top 25 showing in 30 years. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS give up, and I think most people would have at this point. "She feels so strongly about this pro- gram and this university that she has put herself through quite a bit of pain in the rehab process, trying to get back. There's not really any pressure on her because a lot of people don't come back from this surgery, but she's having a lot more good days than she has in the past. Just her presence around the team is huge, even when she can't line up." If Hoer and Pritt are able to run, the Pack boasts a formidable one-two punch of former All-Americans. However, if they aren't able to go this fall, there should be plenty of other capable runners donning the red and white — only one of the seven runners that ran at the NCAA Champion- ships last year is out of eligibility. "I think we're really a lot deeper than we have been in the past, and that's a big Hoer, Thompson, fifth-year senior Tiay- onna Blackmon, senior Erin Mercer, red- shirt junior Samantha Norman and red- shirt sophomore Kenyetta Iyevbele. "Kenyetta and Tiayonna are more mid- dle distance runners, but they were both still in our top five cross country runners at different points in the season," she said. "Samantha and Erin did a good job for us last year, and they both — especially Samantha — made huge jumps in track and field. They, along with Kenyetta and Ti, provide a lot of depth." The depth stretches far beyond just that STRENGTH In Numbers Depth Allows Wolfpack Women To Strive For Lofty Goals advantage," Henes said. "I don't think we are — on paper, at least — as strong up front as we have been at times in the past, but I feel like we really have the people in the program that can do it." Henes' confidence begins with Joanna Thompson, who was named All-ACC and all-region as a true freshman in 2011. The Knoxville, Tenn., native continued to shine during the indoor and outdoor track seasons, and Henes said the youngster is ready to make some big jumps, just like the team as a whole. "Anytime you can finish in the top 25 at nationals, we're happy to be there and we're grateful to have that opportunity, but our goals are higher than that," the coach said. "We really want to be in competition to be in the top 10 every year, and be in it for the ACC championship. We're always looking for how to build back towards that." Henes noted that the program boasts seven athletes who reached NCAA re- gional qualifying marks in outdoor track last spring, and six of them have cross country eligibility remaining, including shirted last year and return. As usual, the squad is also adding a knockout group of true freshmen, including Megan Moye and Sammy George, who were both finalists at the Foot Locker Cross Country Nationals last year, ranked in the nation's top 20 prep runners for the mile. "They're some of the best kids in the country, but we want to give them time to adjust," the coach said. "We hope to always have the upperclassmen in place so that the freshmen don't have to line up, but they're at a high level and they want to [line up], so that may happen. "The bottom line is not what position you are within this program, but can you beat the people from other programs to try to win an ACC title or to finish in the top 10 at nationals? "We hope to have 10 people that can line up at ACCs and are in that position. Hopefully, that will be the case. The num- ber of people who had good summers and had good regional championship perfor- mances in track is greater than it has been in the past. That has definitely changed the level of training here." ■ SEPTEMBER 2012 ■ 69 group, though. Henes praised the summer of training that redshirt freshman Mattie Webb completed and noted that redshirt junior Halsey Merritt just missed a re- gional mark in the 10,000 meters on the track last year. Kaitlyn Davis and Lillian Greibesland both lined up for the cross country squad as true freshmen, but red-