NC State Set for Notre Dame Invitational and Great American Festival

NC State Set for Notre Dame Invitational and Great American Festival Wolfpack seeks strong performances on Friday

Matt Sonnenfeldt will seek his second top-five finish of the season

Sept. 27, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. – Two races are on the schedule for the the NC State men’s and women’s cross country teams this weekend. Both the men's and women's teams will travel north for the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday, while several members of the women's team will compete in the annual Great American Cross Country Festival at the WakeMed Cross Country Course in Cary, N.C., which begins at 4:25 p.m., also on Friday.

“We need to group well this weekend with Patrick Campbell, Graham Crawford and Brian Himelright because they’re our senior leadership,” men’s head coach Rollie Geiger said. “We have to have some of the guys step up.”

The Wolfpack will be without some of its competitors due to illness, but Geiger still expects his team to perform well despite their absence.

“This starts the criteria situation which qualifies you for nationals,” Geiger said. “The goal is to pick up some points that we may have to use in November to get to the national championships. When someone is out of the lineup, someone else needs to step up and run at a high level. That’s why cross country is a team sport.”

Women's head coach Laurie Henes also expects strong performances from her squad and for many of the Wolfpack newcomers to gain valuable big meet experience.

“We’re really still looking to do a lot of grouping,” Henes said. “It’s a good opportunity for our freshmen to really experience a large cross country meet, and learn how to group in that situation.”

“I think this group has trained well,” Henes stated. “They’re very fit. I don’t want them to have too many expectations going in, just to do something similar to the last time out and get ready for the championship part of the season.”

Team Links

NC State Wolfpack

Team Links

Recent News