The NC State men’s cross country team will have its next match on Friday at the NCAA Southeast Regionals in Louisville, Kentucky. The meet will determine which schools will earn a bid to the NCAA Championships. 

The Wolfpack’s last meet was the ACC championships where the team finished second overall in the 6K event. The Pack had two top-five runners in redshirt sophomore Sam Parsons and redshirt junior Graham Crawford, who finished fourth and fifth respectively. 

To get the second place finish, the Pack beat three teams that were previously ranked ahead of them in the coach’s poll. 

This was a major stepping-stone for this young team. With two redshirt freshmen, two redshirt sophomores and a redshirt junior starting, the finish will give the team a major confidence boost going into completion, with teams from across the country.

Following the ACC Championships, the Wolfpack was ranked No. 18 in the USTFCCCA Division I National Coaches’ Poll and second in the southeast region of the NCAA championships. 

The Pack now joins other ACC teams with a top 30 national ranking. The other ACC teams are No. 3 Syracuse, No. 21 Florida State, No. 22 North Carolina and No. 28 Virginia. 

In 2011, the last time NC State won the ACC championship, the team finished tenth overall in the NCAA.

“Since that finish, our goal is to get tenth overall every year that we compete,” Parsons said.

Improving will be easy for the squad next year, as the Pack will have the entire team returning for next season, according to Parsons.

“Just because there is a year next season, doesn’t mean you can’t do something great at that level,” Parson’s said.

The strength of this NC State team is found the fact that all of its the runners are talented and don’t have any “weak links” in the chain. In the ACC championships, the Pack had all runners finishing in the top 35. This is even more impressive when you take into account that there were 139 runners competing in the 8k event.

Parsons is coming off his best performance of the season where he ran the 8k in 23:25.6. Teammate Graham Crawford has had two top five performances this season, which gives the Pack momentum as the team heads into regionals.

“To be an All-American you have to be in the absolute best shape at the absolute perfect time,” Parsons said. “In the past, if you want to be a top ten team then you need one or two guys to be an All-American. For me to be an All-American or to come close would be a huge help to the team.”

The NCAA Cross Country Championships will be held on Nov. 22 in Terre Haute, Indiana.