NC State cross country secures historic 3-peat national championship
NC State women’s cross country secured its third-consecutive national championship by a one-point margin thanks to a heroic effort by the entire Wolfpack lineup without elite senior Kelsey Chmiel at Panorama Farms in Earlysville, Va..
This is the university’s first every three-peat national championship in any sport, enshrining this program into one of the greatest distance running dynasties in NCAA history. NC State’s women’s cross country program now holds three national titles, more than any sport on campus. Stanford was the last team (2005-2007) to three-peat, and no ACC program has ever accomplished the milestone.
Junior Katelyn Tuohy paced the program in the 6k race once again with a fifth place finish at a time of 19:23. Chmiel missed the race due to injury, but the Wolfpack stepped up around her and won with a 123 point total, narrowly beating out North Arizona at 124.
“There’s just been so much adversity in the past few weeks, and we talk about it a lot, being able to manage your emotions and the stress at this time of the season, and they just did it remarkably today,” head coach Laurie Henes told ESPNU after the race. “I’m overwhelmed with the people that came out here and had amazing races today.”
With Wolfpack flags flying on the course, senior Amaris Tyynismaa finished second on the team at No. 25 overall with a 19:55.3 race time, recording 18 points for the Pack. Per the ESPNU broadcast, senior Samantha Bush, who finished at No. 28 with a 20:00.7 time, passed 14 runners in the final kilometer.
“Just like last year, I heard I was in like 40th, just out of All-American, and I was like ‘I have to go! I cannot get 40th if we’re going to win,” Bush said.
Freshman Leah Stephens (20:08.2) placed No. 43, freshman Grace Hartman (20:24.4) finished No. 63, freshman Hannah Gapes (20:30.2) checked in at No. 73 and junior Gionna Quarzo (20:41.4) rounded out the group at No. 102.
With Chmiel out for Saturday’s race, that placed the back-to-back Wolfpack in a unique position. The team was not the favorite to win the title, but the Pack knew it had the talent to bring home another trophy.
“I don’t think they ever thought they were out,” Henes said. “I think, at the coaches press conference last year, they asked everyone ‘Would you rather be the favorite or the underdog?’ And every coach said underdog. It kind of felt like we just had a different role coming in, but they stepped up and just executed, each one of them, amazingly for each other.”
