The NC State track and field team sent seven athletes to the NCAA 2016 Outdoor Track and Field Championships June 8-11 in Eugene, Oregon. The men finished 33rd and the women finished 25th in competition, while six athletes received first-team All-American honors.
The Wolfpack began competition on a positive note as its 4-x-100 meter team, consisting of freshman Nyheim Hines, sophomore Shannon Patterson, sophomore Quashawn Cunningham and senior Jonathan Addison, advanced to the finals by placing third in its heat and seventh overall. The team’s time of 39.11 seconds was its personal record, .13 faster than its previous best in the event and just .04 shy of the school record set in 1989. The relay headed into the next round of competition with guaranteed points at nationals and first-team All-American honors. The squad also became the first Wolfpack 4-x-100 team to qualify for the NCAA finals since 1991.
“Nobody really expected NC State to have a relay team good enough to be there,” Hines said. “For us to even be there, I feel like that was a real accomplishment.”
The NC State 4-x-100 squad went on to make history in the finals by finishing seventh with a time of 39.48, becoming the first 4-x-100 All-Americans since 1991. Hines, Patterson, and Cunningham received their first career All-American honors. Senior standout Jonathan Addison wrapped up his illustrious collegiate track career with his fifth All-American honor and his first in the 4-x-100.
Along with the men’s 4-x-100, Addison also competed in the men’s long jump and took sixth place with a leap of 25 feet. The Raleigh native got off to a rough start in the event, but was able to clinch a spot in the finals on his third and final preliminary jump. Addison gradually improved on his last two jumps in the finals to move from eighth to sixth place to finish competition.
Redshirt senior Luis Vargas and redshirt junior Sam Parsons both competed in the men’s 10,000-meter. Vargas performed impressively, finishing seventh with a time of 29:18.40 and Parsons capped off his breakout track season finishing 20th with a time of 29:48.76. Vargas became the first Wolfpack men’s 10,000-meter All-American since 2004 and concluded his only season with the Wolfpack as a three-time All-American.
During the second day of the outdoor national championships, senior standout Alexis Perry turned heads as usual. Perry took second in her heat and sixth overall in the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.96, just .06 short of her personal best.
In the finals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Perry finished fifth with a time of 12.87, shaving .03 seconds off of her previous personal best and earning her first-team All-American honors. Perry’s performance secured the second-best time in Wolfpack history in the event and she becomes one of only two runners in NC State program history to become a first-team All-American in the event.
“It’s just been me telling myself, and my coach telling me that I know I can run fast, I deserve to get into big meets,” Perry said. “I can hang in there with the other elite athletes, so it was just about reassuring myself and being more confident.”
Aside from the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Perry also competed in the women’s long jump. After fouling on her first jump, Perry bolted from the bottom of the standings into the top-five. The senior ended up placing fourth in the event with a mark of 20-8 1/2 earning Perry yet another career All-American honor as she became only the second athlete in Wolfpack history to earn such honors in the event.
Perry completes her successful collegiate track career as a four-time All-American and the only athlete in NC State history to earn All-American honors in both the women’s 100-meter hurdles and women’s long jump. She is also the NC State outdoor school record holder in the long jump with a leap of 21-6 3/4.
“It’s definitely awesome,” Perry said. “When I have my kids and they get into track, I’ll be that mom that will bring them back to NC State and show them what I did.”
