NC State hides Katelyn Tuohy for season opener

I followed Bush in high school. She went to a school not far from where I live and she ran against my daughter in cross and track though she is a few years older than my kid.

She followed a similar pattern in high school. She was good, but not outstanding, as a freshman & sophomore. You could see the potential but always wondered if it would come to fruition. By the time she was a senior she was 4th in the state in cross and 2nd in the 1600. She may have been injured her junior year for cross, or didn’t qualify for the state meet, I can’t remember. I do remember that she ran track her junior season and she was top 5 in the 1600 and top 15 in the 3200. The 3200 performance might not sound impressive but only 16 in total quality, there isn’t a lot of time after the 1600 until the 3200, and Ohio distance for girls is ultra competitive. Just that fact she qualified was huge. Even as a sophomore I think she was top 20 in the state in cross.

I feel like Sam may be following the same trajectory that she did in high school and this might be a breakout year for her.

She had a nice breakout season last year. AA in XC and in the 3000m indoor. Made the 5000m national final. They are a loaded team.

It's interesting that the vast majority of out-of-staters are from a curved axis comprising OH-PA-NY. That must be a hotbed for xc.

Most of these top runners have ALL been running the past 10 months. At this level, they are all running year round. These ladies never want to sit out, they want to race! If they are sitting out, it is because of 1 of 2 things.....an injury they are nursing, or coaches decision. And Coach Henes runs her healthy runners. She does not hide her hand. Tuohy is nursing a minor injury.

Ohio always has strong high school runners. Coach Henes & Bob, her husband, are also from Ohio and have kept in touch with coaches and others in the area. Laurie knows Ohio very well and she is very well known in Ohio.

Site your source. She might have a minor injury or coach Henes is doing her job, and being a coach, and doing what she thinks is best for Tuohy. Katelyn herself has stated that coach Henes sometimes needs to reel her in a bit so that she does not overextend herself. And Tuohy is a very active person. She has a big activity motor and likes to do things other than running.

I would not "Lol" this too post too quickly. Some people in this message thread actually know what they are talking about. Coach Henes will typically let the ladies run unless they are nursing an injury. Other coaches do things differently, apparently Alabama is one of them. That isn't how Henes operates. These ladies are intense. Nagging injuries abound.

Most of the top runners ncaa-wide did not run in their team's first race.

Alabama? They have run in 2 meets thus far their top 3 ran in neither. It sounds like more NC State top runners will run at ND.

Is the NC State xc course the same year over year? I find it interesting that Brooke Rauber basically ran the same race time as last year - 17:12; but Sam Bush improved her time by 27 seconds; Gionna Quarzo improved by 44 seconds and Mariah Howlett by 48 seconds. Do those improved times reflect hard work, better conditions or a different course? Yet Brooke's time did not improve at all - possibly just an off race? If the course and conditions were similar, then NC State has three solid runners who have vastly improved their performances over last year. Also if the course and conditions were similar, then Sam and Marlee handily beat Katelyn and Kelsey's times from last year even though last year they were in an all out sprint for the win. Overall I think this race confirms NC State is going to be formidable this year.

Impressed by Howlett's improvement, might be a breakout year for the senior. Brooke Rauber finally geared up for NC State but the unattached freshman finished ahead of her. Seems like being at NC State is both a inspiring and discouraging.

Wolfpack fan here. I was at the race. I didn't go to the 2021 Adidas Challenge, but I'm pretty sure the course was exactly the same as last year. Same venue...WakeMed Soccer Park course. And the conditions this past Friday were ideal...dry course, mid/upper 70s temperature and partly cloudy with the race around 6:20pm. I was shocked with Howlett's time. From looking up her stats, it appears her previous best collegiate 5k XC time was 17:12. This is her 4th year in the program. That improvement is pretty amazing. Hopefully it can continue, and she will be a factor this season, likely as either the 5th or 6th runner for the team. I was also disappointed that Rauber ran the exact same time as the previous year. Sam and Marlee's times also surprised me, in that they both beat Katelyn Tuohy's time (16:30) in the same race last year. If Chmiel gets back to top form, that top 4 of Tuohy, Chmiel, Bush, and Starliper could be phenomenal.

I attended this year and last year’s races. The course is exactly the same and the weather was the same as well. Perfect weather this time of year in Raleigh. I think Starliper was a little too excited after not racing a CC race since 2019 (Footocker Nationals). She took the Pack out in 5:08 first mile and lead the whole race….. Bush having the most natural speed on the team put her 800m speed into gear at the end and passed Starliper right after the 3 mile mark where I was standing. Both looked great!

"I think Starliper was a little too excited after not racing a CC race since 2019 (Footocker Nationals). She took the Pack out in 5:08 first mile and lead the whole race….. Bush having the most natural speed on the team put her 800m speed into gear at the end and passed Starliper right after the 3 mile mark where I was standing. Both looked great!"

The first mile of that course is a big net downhill. 5:08 is not that fast - I vaguely recall some hs girl going out in 4:55 3 years ago. But for the first "rust breaker" race this was very good.

WOW, the two of them looked SOOOOO relaxed! This should be very, very intimidating for other teams to see…

I agree, I just think that it was not coach Henes’s intent for them to be out that fast but to keep the pack together longer before they were cut loose.

Agree with this. Many top runners - men and women - have not run yet this season. Seems more the norm than not. Exception I think is Taylor Roe

Roe hasn’t run yet.

Maybe this weekend…