The NC State men’s and women’s track and field teams made the trek to Ames, Iowa and Clemson, South Carolina this weekend to participate in the Iowa State Classic and Tiger Paw Invitational.
Both meets boasted an abundance of nonconference competition. Big names at the Iowa State Classic included LSU, Michigan and Kansas. Top teams featured at the Tiger Paw invite were archrival UNC-Chapel Hill, Clemson, Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas A&M.
The Pack distance crew took its talents to Iowa, while much of the sprint and field competitors made the leap over to Clemson. These meets provided the Pack with an early glimpse of what the NCAA Championship meet competition is likely to resemble.
At Iowa, the distance crew proved itself once again and continued to carry its dominance from the cross country course onto the indoor oval.
Redshirt senior Megan Moye made her season debut in the mile, where she has tremendous success. The Moseley, Virginia native completed the mile in a time of 4:39; fast enough for second place honors. Last winter, the Cosby High school alumna earned indoor All-American honors in the event.
In the 3,000-meter, sophomore Ryen Frazier led the way. Frazier’s swift mark of 9:17.60 was good enough for seventh place and a new personal best.
True freshman Elly Henes finished not long after Frazier. En route to her 13th-place finish, the Cary native covered the 3,000m distance in 9:28.03.
The men’s distance squad was guided by redshirt junior Sebastian Hanson and redshirt sophomore Patrick Sheehan. Hanson’s 3,000m time of 8:08.37 was good enough for a personal best, an ACC qualifying mark and 16th place finish. Meanwhile, Sheehan placed eighth in the 5,000m with a mark of 14:26.49.
Over 1,000 miles away, the sprint and field crew continued this trend of success at Clemson.
Top men’s sprint finishers included true freshman Cravont Charleston and junior Quashawn Cunningham. Charleston maintained his stellar form; earning a bronze finish in the 60-meter. The Mallard Creek alumnus recorded a scorching time of 6.70 as well.
Meanwhile, Cunningham continued his trend of success at the 200-meter distance, earning sixth and posting an indoor personal best of 21.12 seconds. The Charlotte native’s mark propels him up to third all-time in the NC State record books.
Women’s sprints performances were headlined by senior Paisley Simmons. Fresh off of breaking the indoor 200m school record, the High Point, North Carolina native broke the plane in 23.80 seconds, swift enough for an 11th-place finish in a very dense field.
In the field for the men, the duo of redshirt junior Joshua Davis and sophomore Christopher Garrick paved the way. Davis earned third in the men’s weight throw. The school-record holder thrust the weight to an impressive mark of 69-2 3/4. Garrick wrapped up a solid weekend of his own. The Marvin Ridge alumnus finished third in the high jump. Garrick’s clearance of 7 1/4 ties him for second in the ACC at that event.
In the women’s weight throw, redshirt sophomore Lauren Evans achieved similar success. The Fayetteville native’s solid effort of 58-8 3/4 earned her a seventh place finish.
Next weekend, the Pack will travel to will compete at the Virginia Tech Last Chance and UCS Invitational. There, the team will look to further tune itself before heading into the ACC Indoor Championships later this month.
