Apalachee Regional Park Brings Another Special Moment To North Carolina State Women's Program

By Ricky Quintana for DyeStat

Photo by David Hicks

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - North Carolina State’s Katelyn Tuohy claimed her second individual title and the Wolfpack women won their eighth consecutive team title Friday morning at the Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in moderate 67 degree temperatures and high humidity conditions (99%).

It was the same course where the Wolfpack won their first NCAA Division 1 title in school history in 2021 after winning the AIAW titles in 1979 and 1980. The first AIAW National Championship meet was held in Tallahassee as well. The return to Tallahassee was not lost on head coach Laurie Henes, who’s been an athlete or coach in the program since 1988.

“I was actually in a group text with three of the women that I am coaching now post collegiately that were a part of that championship team. Allie Hays, Savannah Shaw and Hannah Steelman. We were reminiscing about being here in Tallahassee. This did kind of start this ball rolling with this group. Man I miss them, but that’s the fun of it in what we do. They left a legacy that allows the leaders to carry on the same.”

Saturday saw the first race for Amaris Tyynismaa in a Wolfpack uniform. The senior transfer from Alabama was 15th at the 5k, but suffered some cramps and did not finish, Henes said.

“We tried to work on grouping and it didn’t happen exactly the way we wanted to today, but we had some people coming back. We had some people running well. Our veterans ran really well. Sometimes you take that for granted and certainly we should not.”

Veteran Sam Bush also returned to the lineup for the first time since the Joe Piane Invitational and came home 11th in 20:10.7 to finish as the No. 4 for the Wolfpack. Fifth runner Gionna Quarzo rounded out the top five with a 14th-place showing with a 20:19.6.

Seniors Tuohy and Kelsey Chmiel were the top two finishers for N.C. State. Tuohy was able to gap the field over the final two kilometers to win in a new course record of 19:22.8.

Duke’s Amina Maatoug took second in 19:29.9 and Chmiel third in 19:36.5. NC State’s final score was 37 points with Notre Dame coming up two points ahead of Virginia for second place 80-82.

For Tuohy, the return to Tallahassee was far different than her first experience when she finished 15th overall in 2021. This year she returned in much better shape than she had been in 2021 and showed she had made great gains in those two years.

She was with the lead pack through a quick 5:05 opening mile and then continued at the front through 5k in 16:19.1 before delivering the knockout punch over the last 1k covered in 3:03. The previous best was the 19:25.3 run by BYU's Whittni Orton in winning the 2021 NCAA title. (Note: The NCAA final event was the first one measured to the correct distance of 6,000 meters. Previous versions were a shorter 5,860 meters, according to FSU head coach Bob Braman).  

Tuohy’s final 2k was 6:15, which was 14 seconds faster than she finished two years ago. (Orton closed in 6:10.9 for her last 2k in ‘21). Last year at the NCAA Championships at Oklahoma State, Tuohy closed in 6:18.5 for a final time of 19:25.7. 

Her final time comparison between 2021 and 2023 was 19:43.1 to 19:22.8. 

Tuohy commented on her fitness and growth as a runner since 2021.

“I've learned and grown as a teammate on this team. In 2021, I was a little bit less fit than I have now. I've definitely learned how to race in different ways and developed a lot of different race tactics," she said as she walked to the bus headed to the airport.

N.C. State, Duke and University of North Carolina chartered a flight to the ACC Championships. 

Tuohy credited consistent training for her success.

“It’s just a mixture of experience and consistent training. I was a little banged up earlier in my collegiate career, but I’ve had good consistent training over the past few years.”

Maatoug still considers herself an 800-meter runner, but Friday the Dutch athlete celebrated her second-place finish.

“Last year I was fourth and that was really good, but I knew that was not guaranteed today so I decided to give it my all and see where I finished. I wanted to finish as high as possible,” Maatoug said. “I’m really happy with second place. I think this course favors mid-d runners. Though I did run some 5ks on the track, I do see myself as an 800-meter runner so I was like, this is my course and it's fast so this exactly suits me so that gave me a little bit of confidence going into the race.”

Looking ahead, Tuohy said her fitness is where it should be. Her comments summed up what everyone will be looking forward to in the next few meets: The run to the national championship and the hope of feeling fresh for that epic showdown with Florida's Parker Valby in three weeks.

“Everything is feeling good. We had a couple of big training blocks leading up to this time of year so I think our bodies are pretty fit. Once we start tapering off a little bit, we’ll be fresh. I’m looking forward to feeling fresh going into the rest of the championships season,” Tuohy said.