The NC State Athletics Department gathered at James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum for the 2023 Wolfie Awards on Monday night. The gala showcased the best of Wolfpack Athletics over the past calendar year.

Katelyn Tuohy (women’s cross country/track & field) and Christopher Dunn (football) were honored with the H.C. Kennett Award, which is the highest athletic award at NC State that is given annually to a superior student-athlete who demonstrates the finest attributes of good sportsmanship and team play.

Tuohy, an individual national champion in the cross country 6K, indoor track 5,000-meter and indoor track 3,000-meter, helped lead NC State to its second straight national championship in cross country and its highest final ranking (No. 6) in women’s indoor track & field in program history. Tuohy was named the USTFCCCA Southeast Region Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and the ACC Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Tuohy set the NCAA record for the indoor 3,000-meter with a time of 8:35.20. She also set the NCAA record for the indoor mile with a time of 4:24.26. She ranked first in the country for the mile, 3K and 5K leading into NCAA Indoors where she claimed two individual national championships.

Christopher Dunn, the winner of the 2022 Lou Groza Place-Kicker Award, became the NCAA career leader in field goals (97) and ended his career ranked second in kick scoring (491 points) after a sensational final season with the Wolfpack. Dunn missed just one kick (28 of 29) the entire season and led the nation in field goals per game.

Dunn owns three of the top four field goal streaks in school history and connected on all 200 of his career PAT attempts – another new school record. He also earned the football team’s Governor’s Award for MVP.

NC State also recognized its All-Americans and Academic All-Americans across all sports, as well as the MVPs for each team. The winners for the Wolfpack’s yearly awards are as follows:

Rookie of the Year
Awarded to a male and female freshman that has had a significant impact on their team’s competitiveness.

• Luca Staeheli, Men’s Tennis: Luca Staheli helped lead NC State to a 20-10 record as a redshirt freshman, finishing with an 18-8 overall record and 6-1 ACC record in singles play. He was also named the ACC Freshman of the Year for his play.
• Priska Nugroho, Women’s Tennis: Priska Nugroho helped lead the Wolfpack to a 26-6 record and an NCAA Elite Eight berth as a true freshman. She was tabbed the program’s first ACC Rookie of the Year after finishing with a 22-6 record in singles in dual-match play. She also finished with a 25-3 record in doubles play.

Comeback Player of the Year
Awarded to the student-athlete who has overcome significant or prolonged injury or illness to provide a major contribution to their team.

• Chloe Negrete, Gymnastics: Chloe Negrete tallied 26 podium finishes, including 14 first-place finishes, in just 36 routines completed in 2023. She was the only gymnast in EAGL ranked in the top five in three separate events in the National Qualifying Score (NQS). Negrete missed the entire 2022 season after rehabbing and recovering from a torn Achilles.

Heart of the Pack Award
Presented to a male and female student-athlete who demonstrates the attributes of being a good teammate, giving great effort, having an exceptional attitude and being mindful of themselves and others.

• Kendall Edwards, Men’s Soccer
• Meredith Robinson, Gymnastics

Kay Yow Award
Presented by the Wolfpack Club to a female student-athlete who exemplifies outstanding academic achievement, athletic achievement, community service and a true spirit of teamwork.

• Chloe Negrete, Gymnastics

Chris Combs Award
Presented by the Wolfpack Club to a male student-athlete who exemplifies Chris Combs through a lifetime love and passion for their sport, great team leader and ability to stay strong through adversity.

• Grant Gibson, Football

ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year
The nominees for this award must be in an ACC sponsored sport and in their last year of athletic competition.  The ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year will be awarded to the student-athlete who achieved at the highest level both academically and athletically.

• Gavin Gaynor, Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country
• Allie Hays, Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country

Individual Performance of the Year
Awarded to a male and female student-athlete that had an outstanding performance in a competition.

The ACC Tipoff has been going on in Charlotte the past two days, and to kick things off, Commissioner Jim Phillips spoke about a variety of topics, but on two occasions he went out of his way to go to bat for NC State.

When talking about how well the ACC did in the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament, Philips went out of his way to address the fact that #2 seed NC State had to play #1 UCONN in the Elite Eight…in Connecticut.

“Two of our eight teams last year were No. 1 seeds, four advanced to the Sweet 16, and we were the only conference to have at least three teams in the regional semifinals in each of the last eight NCAA Tournaments. Louisville and NC State each reached the Elite 8, and Louisville advanced to the Final Four.

I won’t say anything about where they sent NC State either this morning.”

At another point, he was addressing the need to expand the NCAA Tournaments, and he specifically spoke to the fact that the Wolfpack Baseball team was snubbed last year, being left out.

“But baseball, I certainly felt like we had several teams that should have gotten in, and in baseball, the team that the committee indicated was the last team in won the National Championship.

I look at NC State in that example where they deserved to be in.”

Don’t watch…pray, somehow, neither team advances…Drink…

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First and foremost, this video got the goosebumps bumpin’…

This year we shook hands with adversity, played with the cards we were dealt and fought together until the end. We are the NC State Wolfpack. This is a look back at some of the top sports moments of 2021 🐺 #StrengthInThePack pic.twitter.com/EJnREZ7b0A

— NC State Athletics (@PackAthletics) December 30, 2021

There’s a lot to be thankful for in WPN this last year.

Women’s Basketball – Not much more you can ask for…back-to-back ACC Championships, while being top-5 for over two years straight. The players are beyond fun to watch and their coach has rapidly become a legendary figure (who also puts out a solid stream of perfect one-liners). All the Reynolds upgrades are something else, and to have this success as a tenant is a dream that reminds folks of the Jimmy V era.

Wrestling – Speaking of Reynold tenants…Wrestling is doing something that not many people fully understand. The sport has been SO heavily dominated by Big Ten and Ivy League schools. Other than the occasional OK State run, the trophy lives steadily in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. But things are changing in Raleigh. Recruiting classes have been off the chart, and this year’s squad -from top to bottom – is nothing short of spectacular.

Women’s Cross Country – Always a steady performer, State broke out this Fall. Wins the ACC, Regional and National Championship. The first team national championship since 1983 Cardiac Pack. And the scores weren’t close. The team consistently had a majority of scoring in top-25, top-15 and a wide margin of victory.

Women’s Soccer – Five straight seasons of NCAA Tournament appearances. The also had half a dozen games were they lost to a ranked opponent in literally the final minutes of games. Stellar keeper and steady scoring shows that State program is heading in the right direction and not far from making a BIG jump.

Football – State has at least nine wins in three of the last five seasons. In contention for ACC into the Thanksgiving weekend is something that WPN has been waiting for. Leary and Gill should have far more recognition than they are getting. Tony Gibson not being listed as a semi-finalist of NCAA assistant coaches is a crime. Yet we got to see Ickey play big boy football, while Emezie and Dunn are setting school records. Great comeback against UNC, 10*-3 season.

Swim – Nationally ranked recruiting and national meet podiums. We are very, very close from seeing a number of swimmers, from both men’s and women’s teams, will be in the running for Olympic teams. The program has always been a force, but there aren’t many weaknesses when you look at the full squad.

W Tennis – Got hot and made it all the way to the Final Four. The duo of Anna Rogers and Alana Smith just kept winning. Furthermore, they added great recruits and transfers to make another run again soon.

Baseball – For many of us at PI, we agree…there has been such a ride we’ve maybe ever experienced. To think about the season being lost, then to make the run they had to what SHOULD HAVE BEEN, at the very least, a national championship appearance, is just goosebump worthy. Couldn’t open Twitter or watch TV without seeing talk of State. Can’t wait for Boo to totally not go against his word and build/remodel a ballpark to accommodate a team that should be making runs on a yearly basis.

There are plenty of coaches, players and superfans that should be mentioned. We type this with a warm feeling in our heart. To everybody in WPN, from Raleigh and abroad, thanks for reading our articles and hope you all enjoyed the ride as much as we have.

#GoPack