NC State track and field traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the ACC Indoor Championships on Thursday, February 23. Over the course of the three-day event, the Pack earned three individual ACC titles and set 10 new personal bests. Overall, the Wolfpack women finished fourth and the men’s team finished 11th in a field of 15 teams.
The red-and-white got off to a strong start on the first day of competition, posting five top-10 finishes that included three podium finishes. Senior Kelsey Chmiel stole the show with her first-place finish in the women’s 5000m, and her time of 15:55.54 was good enough for a new facility record. Graduate student Sydney Seymour wasn’t far behind, taking second place with her time of 15:57.18 and earning All-ACC First Team honors. Also competing in the 5000m, junior Gionna Quarzo clocked in at 16:08.01 to finish in sixth place and earn All-ACC Second Team honors.
NC State’s women’s DMR team added to the women’s distance team’s success on Friday with its third place finish in the event. The team — consisting of seniors Caroline Lewis and Sam Bush, graduate student Savannah Shaw and junior Katelyn Tuohy — recorded a time of 10:52.16 and broke the NC State record in the event for the second consecutive week, taking home All-ACC First Team honors in the process.
Outside of the impressive performances by the Pack’s distance runners, freshman Kyzaiah Stone was the only Wolfpack athlete to finish in the top 10. Stone’s mark of 2.09m earned him sixth place in the men’s high jump and All-ACC Second Team honors.
Day two of competition was highlighted by senior Jirah Sidberry’s first-place finish in the women’s long jump; her mark of 6.31m is the third-best in NC State history. On the men’s side, graduate students Jamar Davis and Cameron Murray finished in third and fourth in the long jump, respectively. Davis earned All-ACC First Team honors for his 7.56m effort while Murray earned All-ACC Second Team honors for his mark of 7.47m. Murray also competed in the 60m hurdles, taking first place in the prelims and clocking in at 7.67 to set a new facility record and advance to the finals.
Both the men’s and women’s teams grabbed top-10 finishes in the mile prelims. On the women’s side, Bush and freshman Grace Hartman recorded times of 4:41.03 and 4:39.42 to take fourth and third place, respectively. For the men’s team, junior Brett Gardner clocked in at 4:05.29 to finish in ninth place.
The final day of competition saw the Pack finish strong, with junior Katelyn Tuohy grabbing the individual title in the women’s 3000m. Her time of 8:51.92 was good for both a facility and meet record. Bush also performed well in the event, earning fifth place and All-ACC Second Team honors with her time of 9:07.76. In the men’s 3000m, graduate student Ian Shanklin set a new personal best with his mark of 7:53.75 and finished in fifth place. Junior Ian Harrison finished just .01 seconds behind Shanklin to claim sixth place. Both Shanklin and Harrison earned All-ACC Second Team honors, and their times rank third and fourth-best in Wolfpack history.
In the women’s mile final, Hartman and Bush finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Other notable performances from NC State came in the sprinting and jumping events, led by senior Alex Lang’s fifth-place finish in the 60m final. In the triple jump, Sidberry and Davis both finished in seventh place for their respective genders.
The Pack will take a week off before making the trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico to compete in the NCAA Indoor Championships, a two-day event that will begin on Friday, March 10.
