© N.C. State Student Media
Some freshmen come into college with high expectations but fail to ever live up to them. Others, like true freshman Laura Hoer, exceed expectations, performing at a level well above what their age dictates. The runner from Arden, N.C., won the individual title at the ACC Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Boston, Mass.
“I am in complete shock. I cannot believe it,” Hoer said. “I am extremely excited. I can’t describe the feeling of crossing the finish line. It is complete bliss, you don’t even think about anything, I still can’t think about anything, but it is just complete excitement.”
During the early stages of the race, Hoer admits she tried to stay positive about her chances but didn’t fully believe she was capable of winning the race. But it turns out she was wrong about doubting herself.
“I always try to keep my expectations high because that is what our coaches do and I just wanted to finish as high as I could,” Hoer said. “I wasn’t expecting this, but I just wanted to finish as high as I could.”
Hoer captured her third win of the season by finishing the 6k race in 20:04.4, just a single second ahead of the runner-up of the race, Florida State’s Pasca Cheruiyot, who was right on her heels all the way to the finish line.
“The finish line was kind of made for me because it was downhill, which was very nice, and it was just me and a girl from Florida State [Cheruiyot],” Hoer said. “As we rounded the corner you could pretty much see the finish line and that is when I hit my surge to try and win it because I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. I couldn’t look back because she was right there and it was just a tough finish.”
With the win, Hoer became the third individual women’s champion for the Pack in the past 12 years, while becoming the first State freshman to win the race since Suzie Tuffey 26 years ago.
“She did an amazing job,” coach Laurie Henes said. “For a freshman to have that kind of poise, patience and the ability to finish like that is just amazing. I am so proud of her, she followed her race plan to perfection and she is now the ACC champion.”
The race plan Henes spoke of consisted of Hoer staying with the lead group and waiting until the end of the race to make her break.
“We told her to stay in the front group and if one girl makes a break to just let them go for a while and that is what happened with the North Carolina girl [Kendra Schaaf],” Henes said. “But they worked together to run her down, she kicked in the last 400 meters and was able to hold off the Florida State girl and win.”
But even after the race had ended and Hoer had cooled down and relaxed, the fact that she was an ACC champion still had not set in for her.
“I don’t know when it is going to completely sink in,” Hoer said. “I am excited know, but I don’t know if it is really there. My teammates are so supportive and help me with everything and my coaches are always there for me. It’s just such a positive atmosphere to be in and I don’t want to head back to Raleigh yet.”
Hoer was not the only Pack runner to finish well. Junior Andie Cozzarelli finished 11th in the race, finishing with a time of 20:40.4, good enough for All-ACC honors along with Hoer. However, the women’s team as a whole did not finish as well as it wanted, finishing in sixth place.
“We had a disappointing day team-wise and had a couple bad things happen,” Henes said. “But Andie Cozzarelli earned All-ACC’s today. She is a local kid from Apex High School, who has made amazing strides. That is what is supposed to happen, just getting that much better over the three years here, and she really has. We were really proud of her as well.”
On the other side the men finished second overall, trailing only Florida State in the team aspect of the race. Leading the men’s team were redshirt freshman Andrew Colley and junior Ryan Hill who finished ninth and 10th in the 8k race with times of 23:56.1 and 24:07.0, respectively.