According to preseason polls, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams are picked to finish in the top 25 nationally. Both teams claimed ACC championships last year and hope to post repeat success stories in 2007.
The teams have 10 returning All-ACC runners and several All-American picks.
The Wolfpack women, under coach Laurie Henes, are picked to finish second in the Southeast region behind Virginia, but are ranked No. 15 nationally. “Women’s cross country in the ACC is really tough,” Henes said. “What sets our team apart from the other teams in the conference is tradition.”
During the history of the ACC cross country tournament, the Wolfpack women won 21 of the 29 possible titles.
“When you put that uniform on, it means something to these athletes, something special,” Henes said. “They know that when they are at those big meets at the end of the season, they are running for N.C. State, and they are expected to run well.”
The women, however, are without last year’s ACC individual champion, Julia Lucas.
“We lost Julia from last year. That was a big loss,” Brittany Tinsley, a junior, said. “We have a lot of people coming back – all experience that will definitely help us out. We also have three or four freshmen that could come up big for us.”
On the men’s side, State is picked to win the Atlantic Coast Conference and is ranked No. 10 in the nation. Even so, some team members said the team still is underrated.
“We have a huge season coming up with all the experience we have this year,” All-ACC runner Stephen Furst said. “We expect to make the national meet without any problem and finish significantly higher than tenth.”
In 2006, the Pack men finished 16th at the NCAA Championships.
“Last year, we were really disappointed,” Furst said. “This time around we’re definitely looking to be on the podium, which is in the top four.”
With six fifth-year senior runners and a strong showing of underclassmen, coach Rollie Geiger said the men’s team is poised to have a successful season.
“The leadership on this year’s team is incredible. It is off the chart,” Geiger said.
In addition to the high hopes for the later part of the season, both the men and women’s teams are preparing for the upcoming Raleigh Invitational on Friday.
Redshirt senior Anne Wheatly summed up her team’s strategy as being based on improvement and setting the tone for the rest of the season.
“Our strategy is to run together and get a feel for the opening race of the season,” Wheatly said.
Some members of both teams see the Raleigh Invitational more as a warm-up for the bigger ACC meets to come.
“It’s only 5K, and we’re accustomed to running 8,000 meters in college,” Furst said. “The course is pretty straightforward. There are a few rocky sections, so we won’t be spiking up.”
Wheatly said the opener can’t compare in terms of difficulty to ACC meets.
“I haven’t heard that we have any major competitors coming,” Wheatly said. “But you can always be surprised because Duke and Carolina can spontaneously show up anywhere.”
