NC State Woman’s XC rebuild

Napoleon already ran a 15:40 for 4th at ACC's.

Forgot about that - thanks. Off the 9:27 3000s pr Friday she runs 15:40 with the fastest final 400/800/1200 in the field (0:67/2:20/3:34).

Chapman goes to Olentangy Orange. Olentangy Liberty & Olentangy Berlin were in the 4x800, but not Orange. Chapman was to have run the 800 but she was a DNS.

My bad. She ran the 4 by 400, not the 4 by 800. Rewatched the 1600m and Chapman passed scheffler with 250m, then passed the leader, scheffler 'let' Chapman take a 10m lead before responding. Exciting race by the wolfpack recruits (sorry to derail the thread alittle).

Congrats to 2026 recruit Mallory Weller who won Indiana state 1600m in 4:49.06 and the 3200m in 10:28.26. Mallory and 2 others girls went 3 wide down the final 100m and Weller held on FTW. As post #241 states, probably needs to significantly lower that time to make the team (although she has another year to improve...) I believe all of 2025/2026 recruits have finished their seasons. Onto The addidas challenge on Sep 19th for the 2025 recruits!

I could be wrong but I always got the impression that even though it might not have been the biggest reason why... but that Kelsey Chimel competing with Katelyn Tuohy up in New York and being a year ahead of her... that Kelsey was a rather significant reason why Katelyn chose NC State.... or at least got Katelyn to show some initial interest in NC State and... and then after she looked into the program closer obviously chose the Wolfpack

But I am pretty sure that the reason Kelsey chose NC State was because of their pre-vet and then graduate level Veterinary program.... and I do believe that is where she is at now after she graduated ..... she chose not to run professionally but to go straight to that Vet school.. ... so even though others have written about NC State being mostly mediocre academically... I think it can be argued that a primary reason 11 time Track and cross country All American and 8 time Academic All American Kelsey Chmil chose NC State was for academic reasons....

And as an aside ... the previous few posts have celebrated the remarkable track season Grace Hartman had ... in addition to the athletic accolades (ACC Women's Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year) ... she was also the ACC Scholar Athlete of the year in Cross Country and Track. ( which Kelsey also earned in 2021 for cross country and Katelyn did in 2022 and 2023 for cross country..... Katelyn also earned two National Scholar Athlete of the year awards in 2022 and 2023)

Sadie Engelhardt is still competing this summer.

On Chmiel, it just turned out that Chmiel was focused on vet school and NC State has a top 5 national vet school, so it was a perfect match for academics and sports in that case.

Like the geo/petroleum engineer who chooses Colorado School of Mines, or 3d printer, software engineer going to Carnegie Mellon, or pre med to Hopkins.

Touhy did follow Chmiel and then came Rauber and Hays too from NY.

Chmiel in many ways was the lynchpin recruit that moved State from regional power to national power.

Chmiel is not a world class runner and she knows it. she could have probably gotten a pro contract and kicked around in Sunset Tours and Sir Walter Miles over the next few years, maybe a Diamond League race, but she was never gonna do anything big in the sport and was a longshot to ever make a US team. probably wash out in her late 20's. smart decision to move on with her life with great NCAA memories, two good knees, and a career. unless you're a prodigy the life of a pro runner, especially in the US, is rough and the window for greatness is small.

You pretty much described most “top” collegiate runners.

There’s nothing wrong with spending a few years running as a professional even if only in a few small meets or the occasional meet in Europe if that is what one chooses to do, though. There’s still plenty of time to “move on with life.” If someone wants to move on right away, as Chmiel has done, that’s fine too. Everyone needs to do what they think is right for them and there’s no right or wrong way to do it.

I thought Tuohy did talk to the Saratoga Springs (HS) coaches for their opinion and also wanted to go to a program which would be contending for titles, and also had Engineering, and seemingly was not far across the country. NC State seemed to check those boxes. Now the program is attracting recruits from all over the country and also outside the U.S. But not Africa....at least so far.

Question. Is Grace Hartman having the same effect on the upper Midwest as Chmiel did on New York. Hartman from Ohio. 2025 recruit Daniella Scheffler also from Ohio, 2026 recruits Brooke Chapman (Ohio) and Mallory Weller (Indiana)?

Forgot to include Jessica Jazwinski (Michigan). 4 recruits from or near Hartman's home state.

Coach Laurie Henes is from Ohio

They always drew from Ohio, Kelsey seemed to start the NY connection. I think the team titles started drawing more widespread interest.

You are spot on about Kelsey. I believe it came down to Iowa St. and NC State. The Vet school is the reason she chose NC State. She did start the NY connection, which included Tuohy, Walters, Schulz, Rauber, Putman and Napolean. Interestingly enough, she actually is running professionally for Adidas right now but has been injured.

2025 Women's Cross Country PBs

3000 m steeplechase

1. Angelina Napoleon, SO-2 9:16.66 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships Jun 11, 2025

10,000 meters

1. Grace Hartman, JR-3 31:20.60 Raleigh Relays Mar 27, 2025
2. Briley Bickerstaff, JR-3 35:21.91 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 15, 2025
3. Fiona Smith, SR-4 35:51.12 Sunday Night Qualifier May 18, 2025

5000 meters

1. Grace Hartman, JR-3 14:58.11 Duke Twilight May 4, 2025
2. Samantha Bush, SR-4 15:28.10 NCAA Division I East First Round May 28, 2025
3. Angelina Napoleon, SO-2 15:40.45 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 15, 2025
4. Bethany Michalak, FR-1 15:43.84 Wake Forest Invitational 2025 Apr 17, 2025
5. Kate Putman, SO-2 15:45.61 Duke Twilight May 4, 2025
6. Brooke Rauber, JR-3 16:04.61 Raleigh Relays Mar 27, 2025
7. Hannah Gapes, SO-2 16:07.14 Raleigh Relays Mar 27, 2025
8. Ellie Shea, FR-1 16:10.65 Wake Forest Invitational 2025 Apr 17, 2025
9. Briley Bickerstaff, JR-3 16:12.14 Duke Twilight May 4, 2025
10. Emily Wisniewski Incoming from Crescent Valley HS 16:27.2
11. Jolena Quarzo, FR-1 16:32.70 Raleigh Relays Mar 27, 2025
12. Caroline Murrell, JR-3 16:35.39 Raleigh Relays Mar 27, 2025
13. Daniela Scheffler incoming from Union Lake HS 16:41
14. Fiona Smith, SR-4 17:07.20 Wake Forest Invitational 2025 Apr 17, 2025

1500 meters

1. Grace Hartman, JR-3 4:07.19 Penn Relays Apr 24, 2025
2. Sadie Engelhardt incoming from Ventura HS 4:07.78 Stumptown Twilight Jul 19, 2025
3. Samantha Bush, SR-4 4:10.94 Wake Forest Invitational 2025 Apr 17, 2025
4. Kate Putman, SO-2 4:13.01 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 15, 2025
5. Angelina Napoleon, SO-2 4:13.02 Penn Relays Apr 24, 2025
6. Bethany Michalak, FR-1 4:17.85 Duke Invitational Apr 10, 2025
7. Jessie Jazwinski incoming from Shelby HS 4:28.88 Millrose Games Feb 8 2025
8. Justine Preisano, FR-1 4:29.65 Duke Twilight May 4, 2025
9. Ellie Shea, FR-1 4:35.54 Duke Invitational Apr 10, 2025
10. Briley Bickerstaff, JR-3 4:37.57 Duke Invitational Apr 10, 2025
11. Caroline Murrell, JR-3 4:42.14 Duke Invitational Apr 10, 2025

800 meters

1. Kate Putman, SO-2 2:05.62 Duke Invitational Apr 10, 2025
2. Angelina Napoleon, SO-2 2:06.37 Raleigh Relays Mar 27, 2025
3. Kyra Durham, SO-2 2:14.37 Virginia Challenge Apr 18, 2025
4. Justine Preisano, FR-1 2:14.92 Wake Forest Invitational 2025 Apr 17, 2025
5. Molly Canon, FR-1 2:15.02 Virginia Challenge Apr 18, 2025

Hannah Gapes wins NX XC Championship. W race starts a little over 2 hours in.