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NC State women's cross country wins national title

MattCarterby: Matt Carter11/20/21TheWolfpacker
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NC State women's cross country celebrates a national title. (Photo by Jason Parkhurst/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

This time, NC State women’s cross country finished the job.

Last season, the Wolfpack team led the field at the 5K mark of the NCAA Championship, but was passed by BYU in the final 1,000 meters.

In the same position Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla., NC State was not denied.

With its top five runners all finishing in the top-32 and scoring no more than 26 points, the Wolfpack finished with 84 team points, 38 points ahead of runner-up BYU to claim the NCAA team title for the first time in program history.

It is the first time since the famous 1983 men’s basketball team that a Wolfpack athletics program won a team NCAA title.

“This has been their goal since finishing second last year,” head coach Laurie Henes noted on the ESPNU broadcast following the trophy presentation.

Sophomore Kelsey Chmiel led the way for NC State women’s cross country with a sixth-place individual finish. Second-year freshman Katelyn Tuohy was 15th and seniors Allie Hays (22nd) and Hannah Steelman (25th) added top-25 finishes. Sophomore Samantha Bush rounded out the scoring by crossing 32nd.

All five are All-Americans, which is a top-40 finish.

“We’ve just talked all year about being consistent, and just giving the same consistent effort in practice, in races, and they’ve been able to do that,” Henes added.

NC State women’s cross country entered the race as the favorite and ranked No. 1 in the country. The Wolfpack had won its sixth straight ACC championship in October and easily captured the NCAA regional leading up to the championship meet.

The Wolfpack led the team standings at every kilometer in its dominating performance on Saturday in Tallahassee.

“It’s a really cool moment for our seniors and really cool to watch. I’m just very happy for them and the university as well,” Henes, a NC State alum, noted.

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