Wanted to start on the topic since some of the athletes are going to run the season opener in Boston this coming Saturday Dec 2nd, before taking a break again before the real season begins in earnest in January.
Many people on the forum have become familiar with NC State running over the past year or two due to the success of the women's cross country team and the individual success of Katelyn Tuohy in track and cross country. I know most people aren't really hardcore fans in general of the sport and just enjoy watching an NC State team experience success, but maybe the increased exposure will have a few people latch onto the men's program going forwards. While they were deservedly overshadowed by the women's team title, the men finished 17th at XC nationals! Thats a great race to be proud of and a program worth following here at NC State.
Going to go through event by event with people i think could/should contribute a lot to us this year and potentially score at ACC's. You'll see some unique events in indoor track, where some meets will race a 300m, 600m, 1000m, etc., But i'm going to focus on the ones that are raced at ACC's and NCAA's.
60M- Alexander Nunley returns and competed at ACC's last year but did not score. He would need a bit of a jump forwards to score, but not out of the realm of possibility. A few incoming freshman like Tyson Adams, Kyron Parker, and Elijah Dawes have run 55m dash times in HS that show potential, as well as an incoming transfer Myles Epstein who will mix it up at this event.
200M - Alexander Nunley returns and competed at ACC's last year here as well. I'm not expecting anybody to score here unless someone like Nunley levels up. He'll be joined by returner Lance Patterson, incoming transfer Myles Epstein, and incoming freshman like Tyson Adams, Elijah Dawes and Xavier Branker & Kyron Parker who all have clocked sub 22 seconds but each would need to level up to be competitive at ACC level this season.
400M - NC State had no one competing at this event at last year's ACC's, but we have significantly upgraded our 400 potential with this incoming freshman class. We now have a few athletes with really nice potential to watch for in future seasons with Quentin Clarke (47.86 PB), Elijah Dawes (47.95 PB) to pair with returner Lance Patterson (48.89 PB). 47 mid is usually in contention to score at ACC's so it's not likely but not out of reach for our freshman this year (their PB's are outdoors which is faster for a 400m with fewer and less sharp turns).
800M - Kyle Durham and Zach Hughes have competed at multiple ACC's but have yet to score. Hughes is coming off a really nice XC season and likely has his best ever strength base coming into an indoor season so my hopes are decently high for him. Patrick Gibbons also returns and competed at ACC's last year. Jake Toomey is the other athlete who could factor in here.
Mile - Brett Gardner is our best at this distance, having run a 3:58.15 mile last indoor season and just missed out on scoring at ACC's placing 11th. He's coming off his best XC season so my hopes are high for him. Other returners who may or may not run this event are Ian Harrison (4:01.09) and Jake Toomey (4:05 1500 conversion).
3000M - Ian Harrison (7:53.76) is a returning ACC scorer in this event, hopefully he can find that form again as his XC season was very underwhelming. Transfer Toby Gualter (7:58.26) is another sub-8 guy who has potential to score here. Travis Koekemoer (8:09.46), Brett Gardner (8:14.42), & JJ Malach (8:17.11) also competed at ACC's last year. David Vorbach also competed here last year but his eligibility for indoors is unclear. He is racing unattached at Boston this weekend which leads me to believe he only has outdoors eligibility.
5000M - Ian Harrison (13:35.71), Brett Gardner (13:48.77), and Toby Gualter (13:53.25) are the standouts here. I also expect JJ Malach and Dan McGoey to be in contention to run at ACC's in this event.
60 Hurdles - We've lost our superstars here as Josh Brockman has transferred out of the program and reigning ACC outdoor champion Cam Murray has graduated. However Incoming freshman Xavier Branker will definitely contest here and I could easily see him scoring at ACC's.
4x400 m relay - NC state has contested this generally with a mishmash of 200 and 800 specialists. I don't expect us to be competitive here but we should be better with the influx of true 400 meter athletes like Quentin Clarke and Elijah Dawes to pair with the other athletes moving up or down distances.
Distance Medley Relay - A very unique track event where each member of the team runs a different distance for their leg. Traditionally the event goes 1200 meter leg (3 laps of a standard track), 400 meter leg (1 lap), 800 meter leg (2 laps) and closed with a 1600 meter leg. NC State did not contest this at ACC's last year but have the athletes to score for sure. The 400 and 800 guys provide enough depth for 400-1200 and Brett Gardner in the mile could put the team into the top half of the ACC.
High Jump - Kyzaiah Stone didn't have the immediate impact last year that I expected but was still a scorer at ACC's as a true freshman which should tell you where his potential lies. The team has also brought in freshman Judd Armstrong who probably isn't a scorer as a freshman but should be good enough to compete at ACC's.
Pole Vault - I dont believe we have any pole vaulters on our roster.
Long Jump - Its unclear if Jamar Davis has eligibility left for indoors (im leaning towards no), but if so he is a returning veteran scorer here and would be expected to do the same this year. William Sistruck would be the other returner to mention as he was only one place off scoring at ACC's last season. However the real story here is incoming freshman Tyson Adams. His indoors PB last year would have scored at ACC's despite being in HS and would have been 8th on the all-time NC State list. Huge potential here to be a long-term leading ACC athlete.
Triple Jump - Similar situation in regards to Jamar Davis' status being in the air this season. William Sistruck hasn't competed a ton at the Triple Jump in past seasons, but has potential to at least qualify for ACC's. Tyson Adams likewise doesn't have much of a history at the Triple Jump but if he can get the technique down he has the talent to be strong here.
Shot Put - As far as returners, Nathan Lau was able to compete at ACC's last year but thats probably all I would expect this year as well. The top of the ACC is very strong and would require a big leap in PB. An incoming freshman Tony Taylor II is an exciting name that joins him. He won multiple NC state titles in the Shot Put and Discus but just need to see how that translates to the NCAA with heavier weights.
Weight Throw - Pretty much the same situation with Nathan Lau here. Good enough to make ACC's at this point but not yet good enough to compete to score. Incoming freshman Tony Taylor II doesn't have Weight Throw experience but was very good in HS and just needs to translate that to the heavier weights.
Heptathlon - I dont think we have anyone currently slated to run the multi events this year.
Many people on the forum have become familiar with NC State running over the past year or two due to the success of the women's cross country team and the individual success of Katelyn Tuohy in track and cross country. I know most people aren't really hardcore fans in general of the sport and just enjoy watching an NC State team experience success, but maybe the increased exposure will have a few people latch onto the men's program going forwards. While they were deservedly overshadowed by the women's team title, the men finished 17th at XC nationals! Thats a great race to be proud of and a program worth following here at NC State.
Going to go through event by event with people i think could/should contribute a lot to us this year and potentially score at ACC's. You'll see some unique events in indoor track, where some meets will race a 300m, 600m, 1000m, etc., But i'm going to focus on the ones that are raced at ACC's and NCAA's.
60M- Alexander Nunley returns and competed at ACC's last year but did not score. He would need a bit of a jump forwards to score, but not out of the realm of possibility. A few incoming freshman like Tyson Adams, Kyron Parker, and Elijah Dawes have run 55m dash times in HS that show potential, as well as an incoming transfer Myles Epstein who will mix it up at this event.
200M - Alexander Nunley returns and competed at ACC's last year here as well. I'm not expecting anybody to score here unless someone like Nunley levels up. He'll be joined by returner Lance Patterson, incoming transfer Myles Epstein, and incoming freshman like Tyson Adams, Elijah Dawes and Xavier Branker & Kyron Parker who all have clocked sub 22 seconds but each would need to level up to be competitive at ACC level this season.
400M - NC State had no one competing at this event at last year's ACC's, but we have significantly upgraded our 400 potential with this incoming freshman class. We now have a few athletes with really nice potential to watch for in future seasons with Quentin Clarke (47.86 PB), Elijah Dawes (47.95 PB) to pair with returner Lance Patterson (48.89 PB). 47 mid is usually in contention to score at ACC's so it's not likely but not out of reach for our freshman this year (their PB's are outdoors which is faster for a 400m with fewer and less sharp turns).
800M - Kyle Durham and Zach Hughes have competed at multiple ACC's but have yet to score. Hughes is coming off a really nice XC season and likely has his best ever strength base coming into an indoor season so my hopes are decently high for him. Patrick Gibbons also returns and competed at ACC's last year. Jake Toomey is the other athlete who could factor in here.
Mile - Brett Gardner is our best at this distance, having run a 3:58.15 mile last indoor season and just missed out on scoring at ACC's placing 11th. He's coming off his best XC season so my hopes are high for him. Other returners who may or may not run this event are Ian Harrison (4:01.09) and Jake Toomey (4:05 1500 conversion).
3000M - Ian Harrison (7:53.76) is a returning ACC scorer in this event, hopefully he can find that form again as his XC season was very underwhelming. Transfer Toby Gualter (7:58.26) is another sub-8 guy who has potential to score here. Travis Koekemoer (8:09.46), Brett Gardner (8:14.42), & JJ Malach (8:17.11) also competed at ACC's last year. David Vorbach also competed here last year but his eligibility for indoors is unclear. He is racing unattached at Boston this weekend which leads me to believe he only has outdoors eligibility.
5000M - Ian Harrison (13:35.71), Brett Gardner (13:48.77), and Toby Gualter (13:53.25) are the standouts here. I also expect JJ Malach and Dan McGoey to be in contention to run at ACC's in this event.
60 Hurdles - We've lost our superstars here as Josh Brockman has transferred out of the program and reigning ACC outdoor champion Cam Murray has graduated. However Incoming freshman Xavier Branker will definitely contest here and I could easily see him scoring at ACC's.
4x400 m relay - NC state has contested this generally with a mishmash of 200 and 800 specialists. I don't expect us to be competitive here but we should be better with the influx of true 400 meter athletes like Quentin Clarke and Elijah Dawes to pair with the other athletes moving up or down distances.
Distance Medley Relay - A very unique track event where each member of the team runs a different distance for their leg. Traditionally the event goes 1200 meter leg (3 laps of a standard track), 400 meter leg (1 lap), 800 meter leg (2 laps) and closed with a 1600 meter leg. NC State did not contest this at ACC's last year but have the athletes to score for sure. The 400 and 800 guys provide enough depth for 400-1200 and Brett Gardner in the mile could put the team into the top half of the ACC.
High Jump - Kyzaiah Stone didn't have the immediate impact last year that I expected but was still a scorer at ACC's as a true freshman which should tell you where his potential lies. The team has also brought in freshman Judd Armstrong who probably isn't a scorer as a freshman but should be good enough to compete at ACC's.
Pole Vault - I dont believe we have any pole vaulters on our roster.
Long Jump - Its unclear if Jamar Davis has eligibility left for indoors (im leaning towards no), but if so he is a returning veteran scorer here and would be expected to do the same this year. William Sistruck would be the other returner to mention as he was only one place off scoring at ACC's last season. However the real story here is incoming freshman Tyson Adams. His indoors PB last year would have scored at ACC's despite being in HS and would have been 8th on the all-time NC State list. Huge potential here to be a long-term leading ACC athlete.
Triple Jump - Similar situation in regards to Jamar Davis' status being in the air this season. William Sistruck hasn't competed a ton at the Triple Jump in past seasons, but has potential to at least qualify for ACC's. Tyson Adams likewise doesn't have much of a history at the Triple Jump but if he can get the technique down he has the talent to be strong here.
Shot Put - As far as returners, Nathan Lau was able to compete at ACC's last year but thats probably all I would expect this year as well. The top of the ACC is very strong and would require a big leap in PB. An incoming freshman Tony Taylor II is an exciting name that joins him. He won multiple NC state titles in the Shot Put and Discus but just need to see how that translates to the NCAA with heavier weights.
Weight Throw - Pretty much the same situation with Nathan Lau here. Good enough to make ACC's at this point but not yet good enough to compete to score. Incoming freshman Tony Taylor II doesn't have Weight Throw experience but was very good in HS and just needs to translate that to the heavier weights.
Heptathlon - I dont think we have anyone currently slated to run the multi events this year.