The NC State men’s and women’s track and field competed at the Florida Relays and Stanford Invite this past weekend.
A portion of the sprinters and throwers ventured down to Gainesville, Florida, while redshirt senior Sam Parsons made the journey to Palo Alto, California for the 10,000-meter run.
Both meets greatly tested the Pack, as they featured an abundance of top-notch professional and collegiate competition. On the men’s side, No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Oregon were in the Florida Relays lineup. For the women, No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Kentucky were present. However, the Pack held its own at both meets.
Redshirt junior Joshua Davis got the Pack off to a hot start in Florida. The Pelham, North Carolina native placed seventh in the men’s hammer throw. His mark of 218-9 ranked fifth among collegiate competitors and shattered his previous school record by nearly 10 feet.
“It almost felt unreal,” Davis said. “In practice the past two weeks, it wasn’t going the way I wanted it to. Me and coach switched up technique. I went from four turns to three turns; to focus on attacking more and being more aggressive, as opposed to worrying about more technique and staying in the ring. We worked on that for about a week, took it to the meet and it worked out.”
In the women’s throws, redshirt sophomore Lauren Evans placed sixth in the hammer throw. Her effort of 185-5 was good enough for a personal best and places her within three feet of the school record.
This success in the field was emulated on the track as well. The men’s sprints were headlined by another dazzling performance from true freshman Cravont Charleston. The Mallard Creek alumnus placed 16th overall in the 100-meter with a scorching time of 10.33 seconds.
In the men’s 4×400-meter relay, freshman Junpai Dowdy, sophomore Sam Krehnbrink, redshirt sophomore Abdur Rahmaan Kelly and freshman Dylan Peebles combined for an impressive time of 3:13.44; good enough for second in their heat and 13th overall.
In the women’s sprints, sophomore Gabriele Cunningham built on her success at last weekend’s Raleigh Relays. This week, the Charlotte native took her talents to the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles.
In a dense 100-meter field, Cunningham placed 14th overall and shattered her previous personal best with a swift mark of 11.50 seconds. In the 100-meter hurdles, the sophomore placed 29th with a mark of 13.67, less than two-tenths of a second from her personal best. She used the dense competition to her advantage.
“I definitely like when schools like Oregon and Kentucky are at meets that we’re at,” Cunningham said. “When [you] do get to run against that competition, it pushes you to run faster because you have to step up to that level.”
Parsons carried the Wolfpack’s momentum out west to California and was the only NC State athlete to compete there. In Palo Alto, the distance runner put together a spectacular 10,000-meter performance. The Newark, Delaware native’s time of 28:43.74 was good enough for 11th place overall, a new personal best, and moves him to within six seconds of the school record.
This 10,000-meter performance also sets Parsons up well for both NCAA Regionals and NCAA Nationals. He currently ranks fifth in the NCAA.
With an abundance of early season records and personal bests, it’s likely the Pack will continue to excel. Next, the Wolfpack will make the journey to East Carolina where it will compete in the Bill Carson Invite Friday and Saturday.
