The NC State indoor track and field team traveled to Loftus Sports Center at Notre Dame for the 2017 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships Thursday through Saturday.
Following a strong showing in the sprints section, the men’s team placed seventh overall with 39 points. Junior Erica Kemp’s first-place finish in the 3000-meter run highlighted the women’s team’s 35 point ninth-place finish.
Virginia Tech took the men’s and Miami took the women’s team titles after scoring 109 and 113 points, respectively.
On the men’s side, the Wolfpack was led by redshirt senior Sam Parsons. Parsons garnered nearly one-third of NC State’s men’s points, scoring 12 by himself. Parsons narrowly missed the podium in the 3,000, running a time of 8:08.34 to place fifth, but rebounded to nab second in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 13:52.26. The two top-ten finishes earned Parsons two all-ACC honors awards.
This was Parsons’ final indoor ACC championship meet, and afterward he took some time to reminisce on his time running with the Pack.
“This weekend for me was all about competing hard and remembering to have fun,” Parsons told NC State Athletics. “We have a lot of young, hardworking and talented runners rising for NC State, which is exciting to see.”
The young Wolfpack sprinters performed well in South Bend as well, scoring 13 team points between high finishes in the 60-meter and 200-meter.
Sophomore Nyheim Hines wrapped up his weekend with a two top-ten finishes, sixth in the 60 with a time of 6.81 and seventh in the 200 with a time of 21.68. The Garner, North Carolina native took home a second team All-ACC selection for his performances.
Promising freshman Cravont Charleston from Charlotte scored 8 team points after placing second in the 60 with a blistering time of 6.67. Charleston was awarded a first-team All-ACC selection for the silver finish.
On the women’s side, NC State won its only individual title of the meet when Erica Kemp took the 3,000 crown, running an incredible time of 9:19.79. Kemp didn’t lead until the last lap, but closed out the final 320-meter with a big kick to grab gold.
“It means so much to me to have won the 3,000 the way I did — after not having a stellar performance in the 5,000,” Kemp told NC State Athletics. “Sometimes things don’t go as planned whether that’s in training or racing – this season I’ve dealt with both — but my teammates and coaches never lost confidence in me and what I could do and that really pushed me to keep pushing myself.”
The Wolfpack loaded up the top 10 in the 3,000. Freshman Elly Henes took sixth, while redshirt senior Megan Moye and sophomore Ryen Frazier took ninth and 10th.
Moye added to her day with a school record time of 4:36.76 in the one-mile run, good enough for a third-place podium finish. Moye broke her previous school record with the time and was awarded first-team All-ACC honors. Graduate Kaitlyn Kramer finished in sixth with a time of 4:47.72.
The only women’s sprint finish came courtesy of sophomore Gabriele Cunningham, who placed seventh in the 60 with a time of 7.44 seconds. Junior Javonne Antoine nabbed seventh place in the triple jump, boosting a jump of 40 feet and 11 inches.
The Wolfpack did not place anyone in any field events, men’s or women’s.
Overall, a solid performance in the championships from Raleigh’s quickest can be summed up from Parsons’ post-meet thoughts.
“The goal for me this weekend was to continue NC State’s tradition of distance-running excellence and competing my heart out for the school I love,” Parsons told NC State Athletics.
For the Pack, the final slate on the schedule is the NCAA championships, which will run from March 10-11 in College Station, Texas. NC State is currently awaiting individual selections.
