Andrew Colley , a redshirt sophomore runner, has spent his last two years at N.C . State building and maintaining an extremely successful career. 

Colley was one of the Wolfpack’s top runners last year.  He finished as the Pack’s number one runner at last year’s ACC Championships and NCAA Southeast Regional, placing sixth and ninth, respectively. He was also named an Academic All-American at the end of the season. 

A lot of students struggle with the course load they have now and couldn’t imagine adding practice and cross country races. Colley said he tries to balance both school and cross country by finishing assignments in a timely fashion.

“It can get really stressful at times,” Colley said. “I try and get everything done really early because with running and school, I don’t really have any time to do anything else.”

Colley’s dedication to both running and school has paid dividends.  Last year, aside from being named an Academic All-American, Colley was named to the All-ACC team and All-Regional team (NCAA Southeast region). 

Colley placed 56th at NCAA National Championships last year, missing the All-American cut off by seven seconds.  His success continued into the late spring and early summer. 

Both Andrew Colley and Ryan Hill competed in the NCAA Nationals for track and field.  Colley missed All-American status, placing just one spot shy in the 5k . 

“Me and Ryan (Hill) both had poor races”, he said.  

Colley is looking to improve his performances from last year, individually and as a team.

“As a team our goal every year is top 10 (at Nationals),” Colley said. “But our team is looking really good this year, so I think we want to up the ante to top five at Nationals and individually I’d like to get All-American this year.”

The team has the bar set high this year and definitely has the front-runners to accomplish their goals.  Last year the men’s team finished second at the ACC Championships behind Florida State. 

“Last year we got beat pretty bad by Florida State, so we are ready to come back and get some revenge,” said Colley . 

It takes more than words to accomplish goals. The team has set high expectations and knows what they need to improve upon. 

“We need to focus on getting packed up together,” Colley said. “Making sure everyone is focused and on the same page as a team.”

Colley also knows that his goals will require work, competition, and determination. He will see the best competition in the teams invitational in Wisconsin.

“I’m really looking forward to Wisconsin, it’s probably the race that has the best completion,” Colley said. 

This will be a true test for the team and Colley due to the amount of high competitors at the race. 

“There’s always a part where you are going to hurt a lot (during a race) and want to quit, but that’s when I try to push harder and it always works to make it go away,” Colley said

If all the runners can buy into this mindset, the men’s cross country team has a legitimate shot at competing for more than just the ACC Championship.