Strong winds whipped at the jerseys of hundreds of athletes that spilled out of buses and cars on Cates Avenue and onto Paul Derr Track & Field Stadium Friday afternoon as they readied for the annual adidas Raleigh Relays. It was a far cry from the pouring rain that put a damper on last year’s festivities and the Pack took advantage, putting together several strong performances on both the men’s and women’s sides.
The two-day Relays made up just the second outdoor meet of the season for the Wolfpack, coming a week after the 49er Classic in Charlotte, N.C. Redshirt freshman Emily Pritt said both the men’s and women’s teams appeared “comfortable” on its home track.
“We had a lot of teams come from a lot of different places. It good to see people outside of the ACC,” Pritt said. “This was the only meet for our home crowd, so I’m glad the team performed well.”
Freshman Ryan Hill had the best finish out of the strong Wolfpack field in the 5,000m, finishing third with a time of 13:56.41. Teammate John Martinez finished just behind him at 13:57.68
After his early season was marred by injuries, senior sprinter Reggie Reese won his heat and finished fourth overall in the preliminaries of the 100m with a 10.56.
“I didn’t really expect to run fast because I’ve been through a lot of injuries this season,” Reese said. “I still didn’t have the run that I wanted, but I can’t ask for more. My start wasn’t as good as it usually good and I didn’t finish the race as I should have. I got tired.”
He finished third in the event after turning in a 10.68 in the finals, which took place Saturday.
“In the finals, I couldn’t throw my race together at all,” Reese said. “My leg was kind of tight. But I didn’t get hurt again and that’s all I can ask for.”
Lawanda Henry won her second shot put title in two tries with a distance of distance of 51’07.00″. She also took first in the 49er Classic last weekend.
Kayla Lawson came in second in the high jump with a marker of 5’07.00″. Freshman teammate Danielle Adams also finished in the top-10. Pritt came in second in the 5,000m, turning in a time of 16:27.42.
“That will be good enough, hopefully, to get me a regional spot,” Pritt said.
Last year during the Raleigh Relays, Pritt was in Amman, Jordan competing for the cross country team. But this year, she was able to scope out the teams and make predictions for the remainder of the outdoor season.
“We’re going to have a lot of contributions from a lot of different people,” Pritt said. “The last couple of years we may have been stronger, but this year we’re a little more evenly spread out.”
