Jolena Quarzo finished 37th in the Nike Team National Championship with a time of 17:59. Looked a very cold and windy day that the runners suffered through. A lot of the women were running 40+ seconds slower than normal.

Two side notes.

First, the girls team from Cuthbertson High in Waxhaw was there and is one of the best teams in the nation. I dont know how many of them are of the quality state usually recruits from, but cool to see a high school from NC competing on the national stage.

Second, I wish Irene Riggs from West Virginia was coming to State to run next year (committed to Stanford). She has been breaking records at almost every course she's run at this year and has displayed Tuohy level dominance. She broke Katelyn's course record at the WakeMed course in Cary by over 20 seconds a few weeks ago, and just finished 3 seconds short of Katelyn's record at the Nike Nationals course today in adverse conditions. The upcoming depth of women's distance running in this country is getting better and better every year.

Quality of degree aside, Stanford is not a program I'd want my daughter to join, and I'll leave it at that

Nairo said:

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Quality of degree aside, Stanford is not a program I'd want my daughter to join, and I'll leave it at that

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Runners definitely dont seem to improve there under the current coaches, Zofia Dudek being a prime example. But it's hard to put the quality of degree aside when a pro career is not guaranteed.

We've had three kids transfer to State from Columbia, one from Brown and another from Stanford in recent years. All thriving during and after their time on campus. High performing students are going to do well wherever they are happiest.

jadawson said:

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Nairo said:

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Quality of degree aside, Stanford is not a program I'd want my daughter to join, and I'll leave it at that

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Runners definitely dont seem to improve there under the current coaches, Zofia Dudek being a prime example. But it's hard to put the quality of degree aside when a pro career is not guaranteed.

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Nairo said:

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We've had three kids transfer to State from Columbia, one from Brown and another from Stanford in recent years. All thriving during and after their time on campus. High performing students are going to do well wherever they are happiest.

jadawson said:

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Nairo said:

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Quality of degree aside, Stanford is not a program I'd want my daughter to join, and I'll leave it at that

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Runners definitely dont seem to improve there under the current coaches, Zofia Dudek being a prime example. But it's hard to put the quality of degree aside when a pro career is not guaranteed.

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Im just saying in a world where there are top companies in some fields that have a filter for only a few colleges for job applications, the name on the degree does matter.

I know Mareno transferred after only 1 semester at Stanford so she clearly wasn't happy, but thats not really an indictment on the school. Did any of those transfers from the ivy league schools transfer during undergrad or were they all for grad/masters programs? I know Allie Hays, David Vorbach and Aubrey Meyjer were all grad transfers so they got the important part (degree) from the Ivy schools before leaving.

Eli Moskowitz (Brown) was undergrad transfer and Nell Crosby was another grad transfer (Columbia)

NC State commit Angelina Napoleon finishes 16th in the Champs Sports Cross Country National Championships. Great result for the future pack runner.

Also, a girl from Myers Park in Charlotte for the class of 2024 finished 12th, Mary Bonner Dalton. Hope we are involved in her recruitment.

Here's a recap podcast of the NCAA Championship, with the guys from Citius Magazine, with Isaac Wood of the Wood Report on as a guest as well. They have a quick discussion of "way too early predictions" for next year for the women's teams from about 20:00-23:00 minutes in the podcast. Isaac Wood predicted that NC State and UNC would be the top two teams in the nation. The guys with Citius Magazine seemed to think it would be NC State and New Mexico again.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/448ZUbmwn2nkwr5fcPk2gd


Of course it really is way too early to accurately project what will happen next year without knowing what the rosters will be (ie, who all returns using their covid year of extra eligibility, transfers, injuries, etc). However, I quickly looked at who would be coming back to the top teams, and IMO the top 3 teams next fall will be NC State, New Mexico, and Oklahoma State...with NM and OSU returning all of their top 7 runners that ran at the NCAAs this year. Then there would be a substantial separation from those top 3 to the 4th and 5th teams, which I would project as UNC and Virginia, who also return all of their top 7 runners from the NCAAs. Virtually all of the other teams that finished in the top 12 at this years championships will have significant losses of seniors who were among their top 5 runners.

Obviously this is a big "if"...but if we can finally have a healthy Starliper for the entire season...and if we also have Chmiel and Bush coming back next year using their covid year of final eligibility, then I would have us as significant favorites to win the 3-peat. A top 4 of Tuohy, Chmiel, Bush, and Starliper would be killer and could all finish inside the top 15, and then you would just need a solid 5th (likely Rauber, Grace Hartman, or Quarzo), and that line-up could potentially score around 60-70 points at NCAAs, and be almost impossible to beat.

I would tend to agree with you that UNC is behind the teams you mentioned. Virginia should be strong as well as Notre Dame who return 4 of their top 7 and Olivia Markezich showed incredible improvement, and Northern Arizona who has a program that just develops runners so well. Its only a matter of time til the women catch up closer to the men's level. Elise Stearns improvement this year was remarkable and a testament to how good of a coach mike smith is.

Hope I'm wrong but I wouldn't expect to see Starliper. Hartmann will be very good and we will need a transfer again to sustain the level of success we've had. We have a lot of good 6th and 7th caliber runners but you've got to have 5 capable of being top 40/All Americans to win it. Right now we have three returning + Hartmann and Rauber capable of joining them as elite NCAA runners.

Nairo said:

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Hope I'm wrong but I wouldn't expect to see Starliper. Hartmann will be very good and we will need a transfer again to sustain the level of success we've had. We have a lot of good 6th and 7th caliber runners but you've got to have 5 capable of being top 40/All Americans to win it. Right now we have three returning + Hartmann and Rauber capable of joining them as elite NCAA runners.

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What's the reason you say that about Starliper? Do you have any inside information?

No inside info. She's just battled injuries and for a lot of young women it's very difficult to overcome once you have a series of stress fractures like that. It's happened to some other very talented runners we've had in the recent past.

GuerrillaPack said:

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Nairo said:

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Hope I'm wrong but I wouldn't expect to see Starliper. Hartmann will be very good and we will need a transfer again to sustain the level of success we've had. We have a lot of good 6th and 7th caliber runners but you've got to have 5 capable of being top 40/All Americans to win it. Right now we have three returning + Hartmann and Rauber capable of joining them as elite NCAA runners.

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What's the reason you say that about Starliper? Do you have any inside information?

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Nairo said:

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No inside info. She's just battled injuries and for a lot of young women it's very difficult to overcome once you have a series of stress fractures like that. It's happened to some other very talented runners we've had in the recent past.

GuerrillaPack said:

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Nairo said:

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Hope I'm wrong but I wouldn't expect to see Starliper. Hartmann will be very good and we will need a transfer again to sustain the level of success we've had. We have a lot of good 6th and 7th caliber runners but you've got to have 5 capable of being top 40/All Americans to win it. Right now we have three returning + Hartmann and Rauber capable of joining them as elite NCAA runners.

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What's the reason you say that about Starliper? Do you have any inside information?

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Yeah, I'm certainly no expert on running injuries, but I can imagine that a stress fracture of this type would be very difficult to fully heal, with the person being very susceptible to re-injury. I completely fractured the 5th metatarsal in my right foot about 10 years ago playing basketball. I then went about 5 years with no issues with it, until I was playing flag football and was just running normal, and had a slight pain and the skin in the area of that bone turned a little bit blue. But I could walk on it without pain and so decided to not go to the doctor, and it turned out that it must have only been a very slight partial fracture -- obviously due to the bone being weakened from the initial fracture years before. And then it healed again after that with no issue, and I've had no more problems with it in the last 5 years, playing pick-up basketball games etc.

From reading her blog, I also understand that she's had these stress reactions occur in both legs. She sustained the initial stress fracture while still in high school, so I would think that this type of injury is not necessarily being "caused" by Coach Henes' training. I also understand from reading some about this that stress fractures are more common in young athletes, especially those in high school, because their bodies are still growing.

On the positive side, in Marlee's latest post on her Instagram account about a week ago, she posted "promise I'm working on adding more running content". So that sounds encouraging.

I looked back and saw that this video was never posted in this thread. This might be my favorite short recap of the NCAA Championship, with great exclusive video from Pack Athletics of the post-race reactions and celebrations:

https://instagr.am/p/ClUQCjQvRqn

Update from Marlee Starliper posted on her Instagram account...

What kept her out of the end of XC season was that she was dealing with piriformis syndrome. So the good news is that it wasn't more stress reactions. She says this latest injury brought her to a low point and she considered quitting running, but that she has since rebounded and has a positive outlook and is now back to training.

Her blog/post here with update:

https://fanhubtf.com/marleestarliper/update-im-still-here/

https://instagr.am/p/CnCcb2cOxGU

Quote:

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Update: I'm Still Here.

"I have not even gotten close to what I believe I can achieve, and that belief is all I need to keep pressing on.
So let it be known: this is where my mind is at. I'm still heredetermined, putting in work, believing and dreaming big…"

Part of me grows ever more hesitant with posts like this - of sharing what life and my journey with running have been like. But I always come back to the same thing: I simply want to share and hope that it can shine some light. Even if it encourages, inspires, or resonates with just one person…that's enough. So, if you want to read more, check out my latest post on FanHub!!

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Takes a strong person to go through what she's been through athletically and be able to regroup and get a positive outlook back.

Get your 📸 it's a photoshoot.

The champs hung out with some hardware 🏆 today pic.twitter.com/7vKXxH0Mk9

— Pack Track & Field and Cross Country (@Wolfpack_TFXC) January 6, 2023

I'm not sure if I'm on board with the recent trend of making the backdrop purposely too small for the photograph. Zoomed out photos that show a hint of "behind the scenes" are pretty cool, but you also need photos where the backdrop actually performs its full purpose.

Kind of a big deal...

https://instagr.am/p/CnU7JTUuqvh

Little bit of a deal there.

https://live.pttiming.com/XC-PTT.html?mid=5234
9th at NCAA XC last fall.

Reports that Abby Loveys from Princeton is going to grad transfer in next fall for XC. Most likely depth assurance and potential to compete for 7th on the roster.

jadawson said:

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Reports that Abby Loveys from Princeton is going to grad transfer in next fall for XC. Most likely depth assurance and potential to compete for 7th on the roster.

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I hope that's the case, and the addition of Loveys (and Tyynismaa) is not to account for Bush and/or Chmiel not returning next season. I really want Chmiel and Bush back with this group, going for the 3-peat.

GuerrillaPack said:

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jadawson said:

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Reports that Abby Loveys from Princeton is going to grad transfer in next fall for XC. Most likely depth assurance and potential to compete for 7th on the roster.

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I hope that's the case, and the addition of Loveys (and Tyynismaa) is not to account for Bush and/or Chmiel not returning next season. I really want Chmiel and Bush back with this group, going for the 3-peat.

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Chmiel, Bush, Tuohy, Tyynisma, and Starliper would be absolutely unbeatable. Stay healthy and cross your fingers.

toddl said:

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GuerrillaPack said:

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jadawson said:

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Reports that Abby Loveys from Princeton is going to grad transfer in next fall for XC. Most likely depth assurance and potential to compete for 7th on the roster.

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I hope that's the case, and the addition of Loveys (and Tyynismaa) is not to account for Bush and/or Chmiel not returning next season. I really want Chmiel and Bush back with this group, going for the 3-peat.

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Chmiel, Bush, Tuohy, Tyynisma, and Starliper would be absolutely unbeatable. Stay healthy and cross your fingers.

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No doubt. It looks like Loveys was of the caliber to finish around 30-35th at nationals this past November, had she run in Stillwater. And Rauber will likely be knocking on the door of All-American next year. Those two with Grace Hartman fighting for the 6 and 7 spots, with at least 2 of them capable of scoring well enough for us to win it all again should any of our potential top 5 you mentioned be not healthy. If everyone we are talking about here is back and healthy next fall, this team will be unreal.

Tweet regarding Abby…

The best distance team in the NCAA...just got better.

NC State has announced that they are adding 2022 cross country individual national qualifier Abby Loveys to their roster next fall as a graduate transfer.

— The Stride Report (@TheStrideReport) January 26, 2023

Interview with Samantha Bush (from about 9:30-21:20 minutes in the episode) on the "Outside the Oval" podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-swift-conversation-w-2-time-national-champion-sam/id1631924859?i=1000597397850

Quote:

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A Swift Conversation w/ 2-Time National Champion Sam Bush

On this week's episode and season 1 finale of Outside the Oval, host Gavin Frick is joined by NC State's 2-time National Champion, 3-time All-American Sam Bush, who quickly highlights her college success, life in Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as her high school career in the state of Ohio.

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Very good recent interview with Samantha Bush:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-road-to-success-a-conversation-with-back-to/id1636889625?i=1000608237663

Very cool video/interview

well big news for the women's team. Sydney Seymour announced on instagram that she has a 6th year of eligibility and indicated that she plans on using it.

She didn't have her best race at nationals last year (nor at ACC's which was at the same UVA course that will host nationals in 2023) but her best is all-american level and just having her in the fold gives NC State so much breathing room next year when pursuing a 3rd straight team title.

Huge news...in post-race interview after US outdoor Championships, Tuohy says that she plans to run cross country at NC State for fall of 2023 (at 10 sec into video)

GuerrillaPack said:

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Huge news...in post-race interview after US outdoor Championships, Tuohy says that she plans to run cross country at NC State for fall of 2023 (at 10 sec into video)

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Good to hear for NC State fans. Also the fact that she specifically mentions cross and not either track season lines up with what most people expect that she will go pro after XC. She also talked about how hard the NCAA system is if you want to compete at USA's which lines up as well.

jadawson said:

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Good to hear for NC State fans. Also the fact that she specifically mentions cross and not either track season lines up with what most people expect that she will go pro after XC. She also talked about how hard the NCAA system is if you want to compete at USA's which lines up as well.

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Yeah, at 3:10-3:40 in video, the LetsRun guy asks her if she might turn pro after the end of the cross country season, and she responds saying "that's a possibility", but that she hasn't yet decided or had discussions (was waiting until the end of this season and US Championships to begin thinking about that decision), but would be having those discussions going forward.

Dont want to start a rumor as it very well could just be an oversight/error but Amaris Tyynismaa isn't currently listed on the gopack cross country roster that has already been updated for 2023. It advanced the class for all the other runners and all the incoming freshman and transfers for 2023 are already listed and everyone graduated/transferred/out of xc eligibility is removed. Everything appears to be correct except Tyynismaa isn't listed. She might have chosen to graduate as shes done 4 years in college already but would have covid eligibility remaining if she wanted it.

The gopack roster could be a work in progress for all i know or just an oversight like i said. Just wanted to pass along what i saw so i wouldnt be the only one freaking out

jadawson said:

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Dont want to start a rumor as it very well could just be an oversight/error but Amaris Tyynismaa isn't currently listed on the gopack cross country roster that has already been updated for 2023. It advanced the class for all the other runners and all the incoming freshman and transfers for 2023 are already listed and everyone graduated/transferred/out of xc eligibility is removed. Everything appears to be correct except Tyynismaa isn't listed. She might have chosen to graduate as shes done 4 years in college already but would have covid eligibility remaining if she wanted it.

The gopack roster could be a work in progress for all i know or just an oversight like i said. Just wanted to pass along what i saw so i wouldnt be the only one freaking out

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I did go to her Instagram page listed up above and she is still saying N. C. State Track and CC, but I don't know if she has posted anything else on other sites.