NC State track and field divided and conquered this past weekend, splitting across three different states to compete in four competitions.
The Pack competed in the Don Kiry Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Tiger Paw Invite in Clemson, South Carolina, the BU Valentine Invitational and the Boston College Eagle Elite Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts. Across tough pools of competition, the Wolfpack tallied 11 top-10 finishes.
Day one
At the BU Valentine Invite, the red-and-white brought the heat on day one, setting a school record in both the women's 800-meter and the men's distance medley relay. Freshman Angelina Napoleon ran a record-setting 2 minutes, 6.07 seconds in the 800, breaking her own record that she'd set just two weeks prior. Freshman Xavier Branker, senior Zach Hughes, junior Wesley Larson and senior Jake Toomey clocked in at 9:37.96 to establish a new indoor record in the distance medley relay and finished first overall.
At the Tiger Paw Invite, NC State set six new personal bests. Senior Makala Wright and junior Sydney Freeman threw 19.44 meters and 18.07 meters, respectively, in the women's weight throw. Both marks were personal bests and Wright's throw ranks fifth in Wolfpack history.
Sophomore Caroline Murrell ran a personal-best time of 5:00.86 in the women's mile while sophomore Lance Patterson and freshman Quentin Clarke recorded personal-best times of 49.21 seconds and 49.42 seconds, respectively, in the men's 400-meter. Junior Jakerra Covington also hopped on the trend, setting a new personal record in the women's 60-meter hurdles at 9.12 seconds.
Over in Don Kiry Elite Invitational, sophomore Kyzaiah Stone finished eighth in the men's high jump while graduate student Jirah Sidberry placed ninth in the women's event.
Day two
Murrell stole the show on day two of the Tiger Paw Invite, crossing the finish line in a personal-best time of 9:51.06 in the women's 3000-meter to record the Pack's only individual first-place finish of the weekend. In the men's event, sophomore Jimmy Mullarkey and freshman Joe Jaster finished fifth and 10th, respectively. Mullarkey's time of 8:17.02 was a new personal record.
Patterson and junior Grant Howlett also set personal records on day two of the Tiger Paw Invite. Patterson finished the 200-meter in 22.25 seconds while Howlett recorded a time of 1:54.47 in the 800-meter.
Up in Boston, an elite distance squad consisting of sophomore Grace Hartman, freshman Kate Putman, graduate student Sam Bush and Napoleon finished the women's distance medley relay in 10:55.91 to finish fifth and establish the fourth-best time in NC State history.
Meanwhile, freshman Jayda Hunter lept 12.71 meters in the women's triple jump at the Don Kiry Invite to record a new personal record. Three more athletes set personal bests at the BU Valentine Invite Larson and Hughes came in at 4:04.90 and 4:10.31, respectively, in the men's mile while senior Kevin Antczak finished in 8:04.87 in the men's 3000-meter.
The Wolfpack will be just as busy next weekend, squeezing in one last round of regular season races. On Friday, Feb. 16, the red-and-white is set to travel back to Boston for the BU Terrier Invite in addition to Winston-Salem for the JDL DMR Invite and Blacksburg, Virginia for the VT Challenge. Following regular season competition, NC State will compete at the ACC Indoor Championships, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 22.
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