Two weeks after winning its third straight ACC title, the NC State women’s cross country team qualified for the NCAA Championships by winning its third straight NCAA Regional title in Fort Mill, South Carolina Friday.
This time the Wolfpack women were joined by the Pack men, who won the regional for the first time since 2016 after finishing third at ACCs. Both teams qualified for the NCAA Championships, which will take place on Nov. 17 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Junior Elly Henes finished second in the regional with a time of 19:47.6, leading the Wolfpack to a substantial 24-point victory over the rest of the field. Sophomore Dominique Clairmonte also finished high for the Wolfpack, coming in fifth place 12 seconds behind Henes.
Senior Nell Crosby, sophomore Isabel Zimmerman and freshman Heather Holt all finished within 12 seconds of each other, finishing in 19th, 21st and 23rd, respectively. Freshmen Savannah Shaw rounded out the Wolfpack women who contributed to the team standings, finishing in 32nd place with a time of 20:52.4.
On the men’s side, the Wolfpack finished seven points ahead of Eastern Kentucky for the regional victory. The NC State men had five runners place in the top 25, led by sophomore Ian Shanklin in 11th place.
Sophomore Joe Bistritz finished one place and four seconds behind Shanklin, while sophomore Edwin Rutto finished 15th with a time of 30:26.0. Senior Elijah Moskowitz and sophomore Gavin Gaynor rounded out the Pack’s top-25 finishers, with Moskowitz crossing in 21st place and Gaynor finishing 24th.
The final member of the NC State men’s team that contributed to the team standings was junior Ben Barrett, who placed 53rd.
Now the Pack will head onto cross country’s biggest event, the NCAA Championships. Last year the NC State women finished eighth at NCAAs while the Pack men finished 17th.