The NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams showed out at the 2024 Adidas XC Challenge on Friday. The Wolfpack women tallied 34 points in the women’s 5000-meter race for a decisive victory over second-place Clemson, which totaled 51 points despite sweeping the podium. In the men’s 6000-meter race, the red-and-white men totaled 51 points, just shy of first-place Liberty’s 46 points.
The day kicked off with the men’s race, where graduate student Brett Gardner led the charge in a race that was a strong showing across the board for the Pack. Gardner crossed the finish line in 17:37.2 to take first place overall. Graduate student Toby Gualter clocked in at 17:39.4 to take second place.
“We’ve got to get better as a program,” said men’s head coach Rollie Geiger. “You don’t win cross country because you run first and second. I mean, it takes at least five, so we’ve got to get better on the backside of the program.”
The champion of the 2023 Adidas Challenge — graduate student JJ Malach — was the third to finish for NC State, securing 13th place with his time of 18:05.5. Sophomore Wesley Larson and junior Jimmy Mullarkey rounded out the Pack’s scoring lineup together, finishing in 24th and 25th place, respectively, just a fraction of a second apart.
NC State had three freshmen racing unattached — Noah Valyo, Brayden Marshall and Tyler Surface. Both Valyo and Marshall would have put points on the board if they’d raced in a Wolfpack uniform. Valyo captured fifth overall in 17:52.1 while Marshall came in 19th in 18:24.9.
“That’s the most exciting part, I think,” Gardner said. “All of the freshmen who ran are exceeding expectations right now.”
The red-and-white women put four runners in the top 10, including junior Grace Hartman, who was the first to bring it home for the Pack. She finished hot on the tail of the strong Clemson trio with a 16:25.9. Junior Hannah Gapes was right on Hartman’s shoulder, clocking in at 16:26.5 to take fifth.
In her first-ever race in a Wolfpack uniform, graduate transfer Fiona Smith came in sixth overall at 16:53.8. Smith hails from the College of Saint Benedict, and she was the 2023 NCAA Division III individual national champion.
Sophomores Kate Putman and Angelina Napoleon came in eighth and 11th place, respectively, and were the last two athletes to score for NC State.
“We were really trying to practice people running together,” said women’s head coach Laurie Henes. “Grace and Hannah did a really good job of that. They went out a lot more conservatively to keep the group together for a longer period of time, and then just ran a little bit harder at the end.”
The Pack’s next outing is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 4. The team is set to make appearances at two meets that day — the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, Illinois and the ECU Pirate Invitational in Greenville, North Carolina.
