North Carolina State's Hannah Gapes sits down with DyeStat's Keenan Gray on the newest episode of DyeStat Discussios to talk about competing at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday Oct. 17 at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisc.

A native of Rotorua, New Zealand, Gapes enters her junior season with an impressive resume she has built up in her three years she'sbeen in Raleigh, N.C., including All-American honors in cross country and indoor track during the 2024-25 school year and was a member of NC State's 2023 cross country national championship team.

In this episode, Gapes breaks her team's early-season success, which includes a win at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, scoring 34 points as a team behind her individual win. That performance has since elevated NC State to No. 2 in the recent USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll and was accomplished without another cross country All-American Grace Hartman and world steeplechase finalist Angelina Napoleon. Both are expected to return to racing for NC State soon, turning the entire team into a national title contender.

Gapes goes onto talk about how NC State has shaped her own running career and life outside of running, what it meant to win a New Zealand cross country national title to qualify for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., in January, and shares her goals and expectations for upcoming races, emphasizing the importance of hard work and resilience.

WATCH THE NUTTYCOMBE WISCONSIN INVITATIONAL FRIDAY OCT. 17 ON RUNNERSPACE.COM (RunnerSpace+ required).