Senior Mitchell Pope earned yet another honor Saturday afternoon when he took first place in the shot put at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
While Kevin Hutton, a senior who took first in the 400-meter hurdles, and Dexter Adams, a junior who won the long jump, earned top finishes for N.C. State during the weekend, the men’s team took third place in the event, which was in College Park, Md.
The event started Thursday and finished Saturday.
Pope’s title was his second of the year as he won the ACC Indoor Championships earlier in the year. It was also his sixth consecutive win, and he earned his sixth NCAA Regional qualifying mark with a 62 foot 10 inch toss.
When Pope won the ACC Indoor title on Feb. 24, he was the first Wolfpack athlete to earn a first-place finish since 1988 in the event.
Hutton, who is the first winner for State in the hurdles since 1995, won the title with a 50.44 time — a NCAA Regional qualifying time. He just missed a school record with his time. Aside from his individual event, he is the first sprinter to win an event in the ACC Outdoor Championships since 2000.
Senior Chris Crawford, who works alongside of Pope, earned All-ACC honors with a third-place finish in the hammer with a toss of 186’06”.
In the long-distance events, the Pack also faired well. Junior Tibor Vegh took third place in the 5,000 meters and earned himself All-ACC honors. Junior Stephen Furst followed Vegh’s 14:16.75 time with a 14:25.17 time and a fifth-place finish.
Also in the top 10 were sophomore Gavin Coombs and junior John Crews, who took eighth and 10th places, respectively.
In the 10,000 meters, senior Wesley Smith earned second place in the event while junior Chris Kollar took third in the 1,500 meters, which earned him All-ACC honors.
For the women, the ACC Outdoor Championships didn’t go as well. While the men earned third place, the women finished near the bottom of the conference, taking 10th place.
However, the women did fare well in the long-distance events. Senior Julia Lucas earned All-ACC honors while earning an NCAA-automatic qualifying time with her second-place finish.
Also, senior Jemissa Hess had two top-five finishes during the championships. She took fourth in the 1,500-meter event while placing fifth in the 800-meter event.
In the same events as Hess, junior Angelina Blackmon had two top-10 finishes. Blackmon followed her teammate with a sixth-place performance in the 1,500 meters while earning a seventh-place finish in the 800 meters.
