Redshirt senior Andrew Colley finished seventh in the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships held at Indiana State on Saturday. The finish was the best ever for an N.C. State runner in a national championship and earned Colley his third All-American nomination and fourth All-ACC award.
“It’s a heck of a career when you can make All-American three times out of four,” men’s head coach Rollie Geiger said. “That puts him in rare company.”
Colley entered Saturday’s 10K event coming off of a second place finish the NCAA Regional Championships on Nov. 15, finishing just one second behind the regionals winner, UNC-Greensboro senior Paul Chelimo. Before Saturday, Colley had not finished outside the top five in any race this season.
“He ran a great race,” Geiger said. “He had a little tightness in his glute, so I think that he could run with anybody on any given day.”
Colley finished the contest with a time of 30:12.44, which was merely 31 seconds behind Oregon freshman Edward Cheserek. Cheserek became the first freshman in Oregon school history to win the national individual title.
The Wolfpack men’s cross country team finished 28th overall at the championship. Geiger said that he was pleased that his team made the tournament but said he had expected a better result.
“I thought that we could be a top-20 program,” Geiger said. “Prior to the regional championships, we didn’t expect to be in the NCAA Finals. The good news was that we made the championship.”
The team recorded an average finish time of 31:47, 68 seconds slower than champion Colorado’s average time. The Buffaloes earned their fourth championship in 13 years.
Conditions for Saturday’s race were in the dumps, which Geiger said made it harder for his team to be competitive.
“It was a cold, muddy, challenging day,” Geiger said. “Overall, the team got out a little bit too slow. It was difficult to make up ground if you got behind, and we got too far behind at the start.”
Redshirt freshman Sam Parsons, redshirt sophomore Graham Crawford and redshirt junior Michael Mansy placed in the top 200 and gave the Pack its second, third and fourth best finishes, respectively. Freshman Jacob Thomson, redshirt freshman Sam Roberson and redshirt sophomore Bobby Mintz rounded out the Pack’s runners.
“Overall, the team is very young,” Geiger said. “The biggest issue for us, why we weren’t a top-20 or top-15 program, was simply the youth of the team. A lot of the guys are freshmen. It’s good that we’re a young program, but we needed a little bit more experience for the guys this year.”
Looking forward, Geiger said that the men’s team will need to step up as a unit to be successful.
“You can’t replace Andrew,” Geiger said. “The other guys just have to get better. Instead of someone getting in the top 10, you hopefully have two guys in the top 25. The idea is to have those guys get better and put N.C. State back in the top 10 programs in the country.”
Representing the women’s cross country team was senior Joanna Thompson. Thompson qualified for the 6K national event with a fifth place finish at the regional contest; however, the team as a whole did not earn a national bid.
Thompson made the most of her opportunity, finishing 36th overall and recording a time 20:42.86. The finish earned Thompson All-American honors, the first of her collegiate career.
Thompson was also awarded with her third All-ACC recognition this season.
“It was a terrific run,” Geiger said. “Her development in the program has been outstanding, and [women’s head coach Laurie Henes] has done a terrific job with her.”
