From World Championships to ACC Championship victories, October marked another very successful month for members of the Pack. Let’s take a look back at some of the top performers from the past few weeks:
Women’s cross country – Katelyn Tuohy
Following a first place finish in the 6k championship at the Nuttycombe Invitational earlier in October, junior Katelyn Tuohy was named the USTFCCA National Athlete of the Week, as well as the ACC Women’s Performer of the Week.
Continuing that success throughout the month, Tuohy placed a new course record at the ACC Cross Country Championships with a time of 19:08.9 to secure first place and lead the Pack to its seventh-straight ACC title.
Wrestling – Trent Hidlay
Sophomore Trent Hidlay competed at the U23 World Championships this past month and brought home the silver medal from Pontevedera, Spain.
Hidlay lost to Tatsuya Shirai from Japan in the finals, but he defeated Ivan Ichizli from Moldova in the semifinals the night before.
Football – MJ Morris
The true freshman quarterback stepped up in the opportunity provided to him in the matchup against Virginia Tech.
With the injury to redshirt junior quarterback Devin Leary earlier in the month, it was up to Morris and graduate student quarterback Jack Chambers to lead this Wolfpack offense, and it was Morris who was the star in the win over the Hokies.
Morris went 20-29 for a 69% completion percentage, including 265 yards and three touchdowns.
While the victory over Virginia Tech certainly wasn’t NC State’s most impressive win as of late, Morris’ effort was surely a sign of a positive future for the Wolfpack offense.
Football – Christopher Dunn
It’s also nearly impossible these days to talk about Wolfpack football without mentioning graduate kicker Christopher Dunn. To date, Dunn is perfect this season, having converted on all 15 of his field goal attempts this year.
Four of those field goals came in the home matchup against Florida State, including a 53-yarder towards the beginning of the fourth quarter, helping lift the Pack to the 19-17 win over the Seminoles.
Swimming and Diving – Quintin McCarty
Freshman Quintin McCarty earned ACC men’s swimmer of the week honors after finishing in first place in both of his individual events during the meet against Kentucky, including the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle.
He also was a huge part of both team events he competed in, including the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. In the freestyle relay, his 100-yard split time was even faster than his time in the 100-yard individual race.
Volleyball – Ava Brizard
Outside hitter Ava Brizard’s incredible freshman campaign has only continued throughout the month of October.
She led the team with 16 kills in the win over Clemson and 10 kills in the victory over Virginia Tech, and she was also tied for the lead in kills on the team in its other two wins this past month.
Men’s golf – Brandon Einstein
Senior Brandon Einstein tied for second place at the Williams Cup, helping NC State finish in third place out of 10 teams.
Shooting under par in the first two rounds and at par in the second round, he was one of only three golfers at the tournament to finish all 54 holes at under par.
Rifle, Kendall Goebel
Freshman Kendall Goebel has made a huge impact on this Wolfpack rifle team already in just its first two matches of the season.
In her collegiate debut, the loss to No. 3 Kentucky, she led the Pack with a score of 589, and she paced NC State in smallbore with a team-high score of 577, which placed her sixth individually in the overall standings.
She also paced all competitors in the next matchup, the win against Army, at a score of 586.
Completing the day with an individual score of 1,174, she was a large part of NC State’s big victory over No. 16 Army.
