Maura Beattie
Dec 30, 20204 min
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Additional contributions by Garrett Zatlin
Here they are. Our top-ranked women's distance recruiting class.
If you are at all familiar with where certain distance recruits landed this past year, then this ranking shouldn't surprise you. However, if you're unfamiliar with this year's group of distance recruits, then you will soon see why it would have been hard to list any other team at the top spot of our rankings.
The current freshmen who have joined the Wolfpack this year have earned remarkable personal bests on both the track and on the cross country course. They have experience on the national stage which could seamlessly translate to the NCAA scene and almost all of these young women have had success when racing against the country's most elite high schoolers.
There is a lot to unravel with this group, but let's start by talking about one of the greatest recruiting wins of all-time: Katelyn Tuohy.
The North Rockland graduate was an all-time superstar in New York and may be the greatest girl's high school distance runner ever. During her time in the high school realm, Tuohy raced to personal bests of 4:14 (1500), 4:33 (mile), 9:01 (3k), 15:37 (5k track) and 16:06 (5k XC).
She was a three-time NXN national champion, placed 2nd at the USATF Club XC Championships and starred in numerous races where she challenged some decorated professional athletes.
Given everything that she has accomplished, Tuohy has the potential to vie for an All-American spot on both the cross country course and the track as soon as this year. And who knows? A national title at some point in the future seems entirely realistic.
Not only that, but the Wolfpack could benefit in a huge way if Tuohy is anywhere close to the potential low-stick that we think she can be. Her presence alone puts NC State in the cross country national title conversation this winter.
However, Tuohy is not the only reason why this recruiting class is ranked at number one. Marlee Starliper from Pennsylvania is the other top-tier talent who landed in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Starliper came on strong during her senior year of high school when she ran personal bests of 2:13 (800), 4:37 (mile) and 9:54 (3200). She had one of the strongest 2020 indoor track seasons among all high schoolers in the United States after gaining momentum from her 2nd place finish at the Foot Locker National Championships.
Much like Tuohy, the PA native could have an instant impact on this team as soon as this winter. An All-American finish isn't out of the question for someone of her caliber and, maybe more importantly, she can further solidify NC State's status as national title favorites for the upcoming winter cross country season.
Tuohy and Starliper are the two superstars of this recruiting class, but the other four freshmen who have joined the Wolfpack could have earned a spot in our rankings even if Tuohy and Starliper never committed to NC State.
A current freshman who not only has had tons of individual success, but also team success, is Claire Walters.
Walters is a New York native who ran for distance powerhouse Fayetteville-Manlius. She was a three-time top-five runner at the NXN Championships from 2017 to 2019 as well as a member of three consecutive NXN team titles from 2015 to 2017.
That kind of experience and elite-level consistency on a national stage is absolutely incredible. Outside of Tuohy's three individual NXN titles, one could argue that Walters has the best cross country resume out of almost any American freshmen who is currently in the NCAA.
Walters has also shown off her talent on the track, running times of 4:53 (mile) and 9:36 (3k). With added barriers, she has raced to a 6:57 PR in the 2k steeplechase. If she continues to pursue the steeplechase, then the Wolfpack could have a highly valuable scorer that they could utilize at the ACC Championships where Walters can score points.
And how about Jenna Schulz? She's another recruit from New York who joins NC State’s roster after posting a 13th place finish at the 2019 NXN Championships. Schulz, as well as Gionna Quarzo from Pennsylvania, will add extremely key depth to this team as they have run 3k personal bests of 9:42 and 9:51, respectively.
While they may not be the top scoring options in their first few years, Schulz and Quarzo would often be considered instant impact contributors on almost any other team in the country.
We finally come to our last recruit, Alyssa Hendrix. The Florida native could be viewed as a 1500/mile specialist who has had an equal amount of success on the grass. Hendrix boasts personal bests of 2:17 (800) and 4:46 (1600), proving to be a promising middle distance talent. Admittedly, that's an area where NC State hasn't always been the strongest in, at least not recently.
Aside from the middle distance events, Hendrix could eventually evolve into a top seven runner for this team based on her personal best of 17:13 (5k XC) as well as her 15th place finish at the 2019 Foot Locker National Championships. She is a versatile athlete who seems to thrive in whatever distance she is entered in.
NC State signed a recruiting class that not only has the potential to catapult the Wolfpack women to the top of the NCAA this year, but for years to come. Few groups of distance recruits have ever looked as strong (on paper) than these NC State freshmen.
We don't know what the future holds for these six women, but Coach Laurie Henes may have assembled one of the greatest groups of women's distance recruits ever.