NC State cross country split its efforts between two meets on Friday, Oct. 4. Eight Wolfpack women and seven members of the men’s squad traveled to Chicago to race in the Sean Earl Loyola Invitational, while seven athletes stayed home in North Carolina to compete in the ECU Pirate Invitational. The red-and-white women placed second in a highly competitive field and the men’s squad placed seventh out of 15 teams at the Sean Earl Invite.
In Chicago, four NC State athletes finished in the top 20 in the women’s 6000-meter race, including two in the top 10. Junior Grace Hartman led the way with junior Hannah Gapes hot on her tail. Hartman’s time of 19 minutes, 16.96 seconds was good enough for fourth overall while Gapes’ 19:33.55 earned her sixth place.
Graduate transfer Fiona Smith was the next Wolfpack athlete to cross the finish line, continuing to build on her successful red-and-white debut at the Adidas XC Challenge. Smith clocked in at 20:05.98 to take 14th overall. Sophomore Angelina Napoleon and freshman Ellie Shea placed 19th and 28th, respectively, to round out the Pack’s scoring lineup.
On the men’s side, graduate student Brett Gardner was the first to finish the 8000-meter race for the Wolfpack. Garder placed 11th with a time of 23:17.97. Graduate student Toby Gualter was the only other NC State men’s athlete to finish in the top 30, clocking in at 23:26.10 to place 13th.
Freshman Noah Valyo ran his first race in the red-and-white uniform in Chicago, and he did not disappoint. The rookie was the third NC State athlete to finish the race, doing so in a time of 23:57.81 and placing 37th overall. Senior Matt Bogdan and graduate student JJ Malach were the last two runners to score for the Pack. Bogdan recorded a time of 24:14.34 while Malach trailed just a few seconds behind at 24:17.58.
Down in Greenville, the Wolfpack did not race enough athletes to produce a team score in either contest, but NC State turned out some strong performances nonetheless. In the women’s 6000-meter race, junior Olivia Haas finished in 22:36.9 while senior Sierra Collins crossed the line in 23:47.5.
In the men’s 8000-meter race, graduate student Travis Koekemoer finished first for the red-and-white, clocking in at 24:39.0, followed by sophomores Elliot McArthur and Marco Evans. Freshmen Brayden Marshall and Tyler Surface ran unattached for the second time this season. Notably, Marshall finished 13th overall in 24:17.6.
The Pack will stay close to home for its next test, when it travels to Elon to face the Phoenix on Friday, Oct. 18.
