Amato's Army Ready to Head to Orlando
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DECEMBER 2001 Pack Women Tangerine Picks Pack; Now Big Push for Big Turnout 2nd, Men 9th in NCAA Cross From the desk of Lee Fowler, Director of Athletics, NC State University Country It was certainly down-to-the-wire, but we It takes a huge team effort to develop a suc- can all exhale now and celebrate. Once again cessful sports program at the level at which Champi- the Pack will be playing in a very exciting we compete. And every part of that team is onships and attractive bowl game in one of the na- critical to our success. tion's premier locations. The challenge for us We had strong competition for this bowl Nov. 19, 2001 now is to do everything we can to encourage bid. In selecting NC State, the Tangerine Greenville, S.C.--The NC every Wolfpack fan to get to Orlando to Bowl organizers have expressed their belief State men's and women's back the Pack. in our football program and our entire uni- cross country squads fin- Congratulations to Coach versity community. And we're grateful for ished in the top 10 at Mon- Amato and our team and coach- their confidence. In fact, having to wait an day's NCAA Championships ing staff for another out- extra week for the selection may have on the campus of Furman standing season, which in- given us all a greater appreciation for the cluded a history-making win at privilege of playing in Orlando. Florida State. I'm very happy We've worked hard to tell the story of our that our players and coaches have been rec- great Wolfpackers, team and coach. Now ognized and rewarded for their performance this is the chance for our fans to help move this year. And the bowl will keep momentum our program to the next level. We must strong for recruiting, season ticket sales, and prove we travel well. We need a tremen- Head Coach Rollie Geiger, Asst. the Goal Line Drive campaign. The exposure dous turn-out in Orlando to support Coach Head Coach, Laurie Henes and success of the football program helps Amato and the Pack and the Tangerine every one of our Wolfpack teams. Bowl. I hope everyone in the Wolfpack University. The women I'm also appreciative of the key role played Family will make a 100 percent effort to be posted a score of 148 points, second only to BYU's 62 by our administrators and support staff in there December 20 as ESPN-TV sends the points. The second-place many areas: Sports Medicine, Improvement, game across the nation in prime time. finish is the highest ever for Equipment, Media Relations, Video, Market- I also want to salute Coach Rollie Geiger the women's program since ing, Academic Support, Football Operations, and our Men’s and Women’s Cross Coun- they finished second at the Administration, Compliance, Student-Athlete try teams. Once again their performance in 1987 NCAA Champion- Development, Facilities, Ticket Office, Busi- the NCAAs shows that all of our teams can ships. The NC State men ness Office, Office Support Staff, the Wolf- be Top Ten. We can do it! From the took ninth with a tally of 293 pack Club, Wolfpack Sports Marketing, Case Fowler family we wish you a blessed points. Leading the way for Dining, and the University Administration. Christmas holiday. the Wolfpack women was soph. Kristin Price, See pg. 3 Amato’s Army Ready to Head to Orlando Inside this issue Cross Country, Birthdays 2 With his [7-4] team eagerly awaiting news Sunday about a Tangerine Women’s Radio Network 3 Bowl bid, Amato walked glumly into the locker room to face his play- ers. “I told them I was really disappointed for Bowl Notes, Men’s Hoops 4 them, that the most disappointing thing in the Bowl helps Family Album, Pack Notes 5 Chuck world had happened,” Amato said. “They all Amato’s AD Hosts Chancellors’ EOM 6 got real silent real quick.. I said, “You’re going Florida AD Luncheon for Donors 7 to have to go home….and pull out your Mickey Mouse ears. We’re recruiting going to Orlando...They went absolutely nuts.”—News & Observer success. Sports Page 8 Photo: By MikePittman DECEMBER 2001 PACK PLUS PAGE 2 Determination Powers Pack Runners Key Dates Source: An article in the 11/24/01 News & Observer by Ned Barnett * Staff Christmas Rollie Geiger should be used to it by now. In two decades of coaching cross country party at Brownstone at N.C. State, his teams have collected an armful of national championships and top- Tues. 12/11, 7pm. RSVP to Donna. 10 finishes. * Staff Christmas Dinner with fami- But that history hasn't changed the feeling he gets from the national finals. "Still lies and kids—Case Cafeteria, 5:30 gives me chills," he said. Although a strong Wolfpack men's team finished a disap- pm, Thurs. 12/13. RSVP to Donna. pointing ninth at the NCAA meet this week, the setback was more than softened by * Final Exams the achievement of the women's team, which finished second in the nation. - Mon. 12/10-Tues. 12/18 The Wolfpack women have a strong tradition that includes Joan Benoit, the 1984 * First Day of Classes: Mon. 1/7 Olympic marathon gold medallist; Julie Shea, an individual national champion who * Official NCSU Closings: led N.C. State to national team championships in 1979 and '80; Betty Springs, a two - Christmas, December 24-27 time NCAA champion in the early 1980s; and Suzie Tuffey, who in 1985 became the - New Year’s Day, Tues. Jan. 1 first freshman to win a national championship. But before this year, the glory of N.C. State's female runners had begun to fade. Their most recent national championship - Martin Luther King, Jr., Mon. 1/21 was 21 years ago. The last runner-up finish had come in 1987. Since 1995, the N.C. * Tangerine Bowl State women hadn’t finished better than 11th in the nation. - Thurs. 12/20, 7:30, ESPN-TV But on Monday at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., Geiger looked out on the field of some 280 women and saw in the line of multicolored uniforms a thread of red DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS at the front. Of the seven N.C. State women in 1 Charles Stephenson the 6-k race, three finished in the top 21. 3 Stacy Sykes What impressed Geiger almost as much as 4 Michael Urban the result was that N.C. State athletic director 5 Emily Barbour Lee Fowler and other athletic department offi- 6 Joe Pate cials got on a bus at 6 a.m. Monday and rode 8 Will Linthicum south to witness the 11 a.m. race. "I've never seen that done," said Geiger, who 9 Jim Robinson has seen a lot in 20 years as State’s cross 11 Jon Fagg country coach. "It's terrific for the athletes to 13 John Candler see the support from the administration." 14 C.J. Hunter The N.C. State women, who train under assistant head coach and former Wolf- 15 Sam Esposito pack All-America Laurie Henes, were picked to finish fourth. That they exceeded that 15 Wayne Hubert high expectation reflected the competitive firepower of the three top Wolfpack finish- 17 Todd Stroud ers, sophomores Kristen Price and Megan Coombs and senior Katie Sabino. All three 22 Nora Lynn Finch ran the best races of their careers and earned, All-America honors. 23 Trudy Rains Price, whose time of 20 minutes, 36 seconds, left her 12 seconds behind national 29 Ed Stack champion Tara Chaplin of Arizona, delivered the biggest surprise. In the ACC cham- pionship meet, she finished seventh. On Monday, she finished fourth in the nation. 30 Charles Rozanski Geiger said his top runners were determined to finish at the front. "They had the Note: Jamey Coll’s Nov. 18 was look of a linebacker. If you looked at their eyes, they were going to find something omitted in the Nov. Pack Plus. they could hit," Geiger said. "They ran intelligently, but they also ran with fire. They were aggressive." Geiger said he doesn’t know "where that look comes from," but it's Pack Plus is published by the NC particularly strong in this group. Of the Wolfpack's top seven female runners, only State Department of Athletics. It is one broke 5 minutes in the mile in high school. But what they lack in pure speed, they sent monthly, Sept.-June to NC make up in intensity It's a requirement for success in cross country. State coaches, staff and Wolfpack "One of the big differences about our sport is you play basketball, you play football, Club representatives. P-P is also you play a lot of games, but running is not play," Geiger said. "Most coaches punish available on the Gopack.com web- their kids by running. We certainly can't go in that direction. We joke that if some- site by clicking on “Inside Wolf- body gets out of line, we'll shoot foul shots." Female cross country athletes train by pack Athletics with Lee Fowler” running 40 to 70 miles a week, but doing well requires tempering the athlete's hunger button. Please send address changes for more speed and more mileage. In essence, what you're trying to do is take them to to the editor. Publisher: Lee Fowler, a point where they're on a plateau by the end of the season, but not beyond that, Editor: Jim White; (919) 515-3406 where they're not eager to fine up, biting at the bit so to speak." [email protected] "These athletes are very special.