UNC track and field dominates Carolina Cup

Coach Harlis Meaders paused Friday night, in the midst of rattling off the numerous North Carolina track and field team’s successes at the Dick Taylor Carolina Cup in Chapel Hill.

“We’ve just got so many kids,” he said.

And it’s true. There were 13 first-place UNC finishes Friday, nine athletes set personal records and the team notched 10 second-place finishes. The men’s team captured the Carolina Cup, while the women’s team took second to Duke.

“We are fortunate to have one of the trophies here, where they both should be,” Meaders said.

Junior Stephen Mulherin’s victory in the 3,000-meter race was one of the most exciting of the night, as the crowd cheered raucously through the last third of his race as he outpaced the Duke runner-up.

“We killed it,” Mulherin said of the team’s performance. “Came to win, and that’s what we did.”

With 1,000 meters left, or about a third of the race, Mulherin made his move — much earlier than would be typical for a race of that distance.

“That was a 25 second (personal record) for me, so I was kind of treading on empty water, so I didn’t know what I could do,” he said. “So I guess it was a little bit gutsy that I was running that pace.”

The men’s team won the meet by a margin of 19 points, with athletes in all types of events contributing to the dominating performance.

“We know that we’re a talented team, and it’s all about taking the talent off the paper and putting it on the track,” Meaders said.

“And hopefully I saw a glimpse of what we have the potential to do.”

On the women’s side, true freshman Natisha Dixon set a personal record in the 60-meter hurdles and took first overall in the race in just her second collegiate meet.

“(The freshmen) are energetic, they’re hungry, they’re focused, they’re determined,” Meaders said. “And their spirit is spilling into the rest of the team across the board.”

Dixon has improved every race she’s run this season, something she hopes to keep up in the face of increased competition.

“In high school, you’re not always guaranteed competition, but in college, no matter what, you always have competition, you always have to do your very best because someone on the line is always better than you or at least trying to be better than you,” she said.

In the distance races, true freshman Caroline Alcorta breezed past the field in the women’s 3,000-meter race, winning by 20-seconds in a calm, controlled performance.

Like the men’s team, the women competed well in all types of events.

“We’re excited about the potential of our team across the board,” Meaders said.

“We’re really fortunate that we have balance across all the disciplines, and that’s really going to be the strength of the team moving forward.”

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