The NC State men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Blacksburg, Virginia to compete at the Hokie Invitational this past weekend. Though team scoring was not tallied, the Pack took advantage of the banked track surface at Rector Field house and produced countless dazzling performances.
The Pack faced notable competitors from around the southeast, including Florida, East Carolina and Duke.
On the men’s side, redshirt junior Grant Rivers started things off with a first-place finish in the heptathlon. The Hendersonville, North Carolina native won three out of the seven heptathlon events and compiled a total score of 4,923.
“To get a win like that meant a lot to me,” Rivers said. “But, I don’t know, I just feel like I’m heating up right now.”
Preseason emphasis on weights and strength helped propel Rivers’ improvement.
“Getting in the weight room has helped,” Rivers said. “Me and [assistant] coach Tom Wood were very intentional about my squat and my bench. All of those strength areas were better this year. I put on maybe six or seven pounds. It’s helped out my shot put, my sprinting [and] my jumping. That’s been good.”
In the field, the men were led by another strong showing from redshirt junior Joshua Davis. Davis earned yet another first-place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 69-9. The school-record holder currently ranks fourth in the NCAA and has finished first in three out of four contests this winter.
Accompanying Davis in the field was sophomore Christopher Garrick. The sophomore brought home gold in the high jump, clearing a height of 6-10 3/4.
On the track, the men were equally as fruitful. Junior Shannon Patterson continued last week’s success, winning the 300-meter dash in a school-record time of 34.11.
The Wolfpack further showcased its sprint depth in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events. In the 60m, freshman Cravont Charleston impressed once again. The Charlotte native took second in the event with a swift time of 6.71 seconds.
Additionally, junior Quashawn Cunningham performed admirably in his indoor season debut, placing second in the 200-meter. Cunningham’s mark of 21.51 places him only a quarter of a second off his indoor 200m personal best.
On the women’s side, this trend of success strengthened.
In the field, redshirt sophomore Lauren Evans and redshirt senior Alyssa Dunn led the way. Evans earned fourth in the weight throw and set a new personal-best mark with a throw of 60-10 1/4. This distance also establishes the Fayetteville native as fourth in the ACC. In shot put, the duo of Evans and Dunn earned third and fifth, respectively. Dunn’s mark of 45-9 1/4 was a new indoor shot put personal record as well.
Supporting Evans and Dunn in the field was junior Javonne Antoine. The Beltsville, Maryland native soared to a new indoor triple jump personal record of 41-3. Antoine’s effort was good enough for a fifth-place finish and a spot at this winter’s ACC Championship meet.
On the track, the women’s side was led by a spectacular performance in the women’s mile. In this event, the quartet of graduate Kaitlyn Kramer, sophomore Ryen Frazier, redshirt sophomore Rachel Koon and freshman Elly Henes swept four of the top-five places.
Kramer finished at the front of this Pack of runners with an impressive first-place result. Kramer’s mark of 4:48.92 also smashed her current mile personal record by nearly five seconds. Furthermore, this was Kramer’s indoor season debut.
“It was really exciting to get a PR,” Kramer said. “Really, my only goal for the race was to get the ACC mark.”
Fresh off of spectacular 5,000-meter performances at the BU Invitational, Frazier and Koon earned second and fourth, respectively. Their times of 4:49.38 and 4:49.99 were good enough to reserve a spot at next month’s ACC Championship meet. In her first indoor meet in a Wolfpack uniform, Henes’ mark of 4:50.43 was good enough for fifth place and an ACC qualification mark.
Guiding this quartet of runners to a strong finish was teammate Megan Rempel. The junior paced her fellow teammates through the first 1,000 meters of the mile.
“It was also a PR for Rachel and Elly,” Kramer said. “They all got PR’s and the ACC mark, so It was a good day for them. Then Megan Rempel paced us for the first thousand meters of the race and we really couldn’t have done it without her.”
The future looks bright for Wolfpack men’s and women’s track and field. Up next, the Pack will look to further amplify this success next weekend at the Bob Pollock Invite in Clemson, South Carolina.
