N.C. State hosted the eighth annual Raleigh Relays this weekend at the Paul Derr Track, where more than 4,000 athletes congregated to compete in various track & field events. Multiple Wolfpack student athletes had stand out performances, but sophomore Alexis Perry stole the limelight on both days of competition.
Perry began the invitational on Friday with a record-breaking outdoor long jump of 21’ 2’’, trumping the previous school record of 21’ 1.25’’, set by former State jumper Karimah Shepherd in the 2013 season.
Perry ended the first day of competition by finishing first in the 100-meter hurdle preliminaries. On Saturday, the Durham native left other contenders in the dust with a personal best of 13.39 seconds.
“I came out with a goal in mind, and that was to keep the first-place spot,” Perry said. “I just knew if I pushed out and cranked up my speed at hurdle seven through the end that I would do what I came out here to do.”
The sophomore’s competitive strategy has been working well; at the Carolina Relays on March 22, Perry also came out on top in the 100-meter hurdles.
“The marks she has will be good enough marks to get into the regional championships in Jacksonville this May,” head coach Rollie Geiger said. “We have always looked at her as our hurdler then long-jumper then high-jumper. Now I’m not too sure if her long jump is a better mark than her hurdle, but they are both great marks. She is a great athlete, a perfect student and a perfect person.”
Last season, as a freshman, Perry was third in the long jump at the Aggie Last Chance meet and placed fourth in the ACC Championships. Assistant coach Chris Coleman, in charge of sprints & jumps, said he is extremely confident in her athletic ability.
“[Perry] is just overall talented,” Coleman said. “Hopefully I can get her out to 22’ by the end of the year. She took it early, she got on the bus early.”
Though Perry had an impressive weekend, other members of the Pack also shined in spite of the dreary weather.
Redshirt junior thrower Tremanisha Taylor set a new school record in discus on Friday with a throw of 179’, blowing her old school record of 175’1’’ out of the water. Taylor has been a consistent leader on the team: the two-time All American also holds the women’s indoor and outdoor shot put record at N.C. State.
Redshirt sophomore mid-distance runner Graham Crawford rightfully earned second in the men’s 5,000-meter after besting his personal record by over 15 seconds with a time of 13:49.27. Senior distance runner Andrew Colley burst into first place in the 1,500-meter with a breakneck time of 3:44.21 after he passed three runners in the final lap.
“He was seventh [in the NCAA Championships] in cross country, the 1,500-meter is a short event for him,” Geiger said. “He’ll race later in the year with track in spring in a longer event, even the 5,000-meter or 10,000-meter, but that was a good mark – a good race for him.
“Also a good run last night was by Graham Crawford; a 13:49 is a good mark, and he ran the 5,000-meter but he may drop down to the 1,500-meter.”
On the first day, sophomore distance runner Adrian Ross secured first in the men’s steeplechase with a new personal best of 9:11.17, and redshirt senior distance runner Samantha Norman placed fifth in the women’s at 10:39.37.
Geiger said the Raleigh Relays were a great event for N.C. State, and the city of Raleigh as a whole.
“This is an important event for the community,” Geiger said. “We want exposure to a lot of track & field athletes in high school across the country, so I think it’s great enough for the University to host but also the things that help us, the University, in the process of promoting the track and field program at N.C. State.”
