The women’s cross country program is not new to the ACC Championships race, but it’s runners are. The women’s team has taken down more conference titles than any other varsity program on campus — capturing 22 since 1978. But on Saturday, every single one of the six players wearing N.C. State’s uniform will be competing in their first ever conference championship race. Freshman Lauren Bishop said it is a lot to handle for the freshmen athletes.
“We’re the youngest team to ever compete at [the ACC Championships],” Bishop said. “They’ve never fielded an all-freshman team before. It’s a little scary. But at the same time, we’ve been working out well, and we’ve all been running well together.”
The championships will be held at the UNC Ranson-Hamrick Cross Country Course Saturday, with the women’s 6k race to start at 10 a.m. while the men’s 8k race will begin at 11 a.m.
Freshman Emily Pritt will also be running for the Pack this weekend. She said State’s inexperience should not be much of a factor.
“We’re very competitive,” Pritt said. “I really don’t think the inexperience is going to be a huge factor. I think all of us are ready to race, and this is why we came to N.C. State and we decided to run college cross country — because we wanted to race people.”
The women’s team will be returning to competition after finishing 32nd at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terra Haute, Ind. on Oct. 28. Pritt led State in the race, finishing 61st with a time of 21:23.8 on the 6k course. Pritt said the ACC Championships will be a more enjoyable race because of the smaller field of runners.
“This is going to be a little nicer because the field will be a little smaller than at Pre-[Nationals], so we’ll have a little bit more head-to-head race combat with some of the other teams,” Pritt said.
According to Bishop, the ACC field will consist of less than one-third the number of runners that competed at the NCAA Pre-Nationals. She said it will provide a more intimate racing environment.
“If it’s a 300-man field, then you’re sort of racing everybody, there’s so many people around you at once,” Bishop said. “You’re never alone unless you’re winning. It’s definitely more interesting to see who you’re racing right next to you.”
After three decades of conference dominance, the women’s team, though it will consist of only freshman runners Saturday, feels the pressure to succeed.
“It’s kind of huge because N.C. State has a tradition of winning it every year,” Bishop said. “Personally, it puts more pressure to run faster. We wouldn’t have been put in this situation unless the coaches thought we would learn from this experience.”
Virginia and Florida State enter Saturday’s race favored as both are ranked in the top-15 of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.
“I’m not sure if we can compete with Florida State this year,” Bishop said. “This year, I think we’re just trying to be the best we can as a team and to compete for at-large points. We’re just trying to make it to [the NCAA Championships].”
Although State looks to be an underdog on paper, Pritt thinks the Wolfpack can make the race interesting on Saturday.
“I think a lot of people underestimate us because we’re very young, but we’re going to give people a race,” Pritt said.
