NC State Lands Bethany Michalak, A Top 2024 Distance Recruit

By Tim Casey - Milesplit Recruiting Correspondent

On Thursday, Air Academy High School canceled classes, as six inches of snow laid on the ground in Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

As such, Bethany Michalak, a junior at Air Academy and one of the best distance runners in the U.S., stayed at home. 

It wasn't unusual for Michalak, who has become accustomed to snowy conditions and finding ways to train in less than ideal conditions, even in April. But starting in the fall of 2024, when Michalak enters college, she won't have to worry as much about frigid conditions or snow interrupting her classes or workouts.

Michalak, MileSplit's No. 13 girls recruit in the Class of 2024, committed this week to North Carolina State.

Michalak, who placed third at Nike Cross Nationals in December and has outdoor bests of 4:44.46 in the mile and 10:05.25 in the 2-mile, is the first girl in her class to commit to NC State.

The commitment from a big-time recruit however, is not unusual for the Wolfpack, either. 

NC State is the two-time reigning NCAA cross country champions and should be favored to become the first women's program since Stanford from 2005 to 2007 to win three consecutive titles.

The Wolfpack return Katelyn Tuohy, Kelsey Chmiel and Samantha Bush, who finished first, third and 15th at last year's NCAA meet. In January, they also added transfer Amaris Tyynismaa, who was ninth at the NCAAs while running for Alabama. 

Michalak began hearing from the NC State coaches in the fall and took an official visit to the campus last week. She also went on an official visit in March to Oklahoma State, which finished fourth at last year's NCAA cross country meet. Oregon, Florida State and Northern Arizona were among the numerous other colleges that showed interest in Michalak.

Michalak said the Oklahoma State coaches "were amazing, and the team was super duper nice, but once I went to NC State, I just knew that was it for sure."

"One of the big reasons I ended up choosing NC State was because of the team dynamic," she said. "That's something NC State is known for is their team unity. It was super apparent when I was there. They're all just really good friends. They were a huge part in why I chose to go to NC State. You can just tell they're great people and great athletes and just good friends."

Michalak has looked up to Tuohy, in particular, for years. Tuohy was MileSplit's No. 2 girls recruit in the Class of 2020, just behind Athing Mu, who won the 800m at the Summer Olympics in 2021.

In high school, Tuohy was a three-time Nike Cross Nationals individual champion and set multiple national track records. She's continued that success in college, especially this school year when she won the cross country individual title and set NCAA records in the indoor mile (4:24.26) and indoor 3,000m (8:35.20).

"She's someone I feel like the whole running community looks up to, especially the females," Michalak said. "She's just showing how much women can do in this sport and how much of an impact they can make. That's super inspirational. All of the girls on that (NC State) team are super fast. I've definitely been looking up to them for a while. It's exciting I can be on the same team as them." 

Michalak has already achieved plenty herself. But she still has this outdoor season and her senior year to add to her legacy. She began running as a third-grader and won USATF National Junior Olympics Cross Country titles as a seventh- and eighth-grader. She made an immediate impact in high school, winning Colorado Class 4A state titles in cross country and the mile (4:55.01) as a freshman.

As a sophomore, Michalak excelled on the national stage. She finished 10th in a loaded field at the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championships, won the mile at the RunningLane Track Championships in 4:44.46 (the U.S. No. 18 time and second-fastest among sophomores last year) and placed fourth in the 2-mile at the Brooks PR Invitational in 10:05.25 (the U.S. No. 8 time last year and second-fastest among sophomores).

During the cross country season this past fall, Michalak was fourth at the Colorado state meet and sixth at the Nike Southwest Regional. But she was in top form at NXN, finishing third in 16:55.40, less than a second behind senior Brooke Wilson of Valor Christian (CO), who signed with Wake Forest.

Senior Irene Riggs, a Stanford commit, won in 16:40.90, breaking the course record. 

Michalak only ran in two races during the indoor season, as Colorado does not sponsor indoor meets. She finished second in the mile (4:49.75) at the UW High School Invite in February and 16th in the 2-mile (10:24.22) at New Balance Nationals Indoor last month.

"I definitely feel like I could've performed a bit better (at NBNI)," she said. "My time wasn't really what I was hoping for, but it was a really big learning experience. I've done indoor track so little that I wasn't entirely sure how to race with that huge group of girls and navigate how to get out of the pack. I ended up getting pretty stuck. It was a good learning experience."

On Saturday, Michalak will run in the 3,200m at the Arcadia Invitational in California against many of the nation's distance stars, including Riggs and Wilson.

She also plans on running at the Oregon Relays later this month as well as the Brooks PR Invitational and Nike Nationals in June.

In college, Michalak hopes to run cross country and compete in the 1,500m/mile and 5,000m. That's still nearly a year a half from now, although she's already looking forward to joining the team at NC State and working with Laurie Henes, the Wolfpack's head women's coach.

"I was able to form a good relationship with her pretty quickly," Michalak said. "I just feel like I could talk to her about anything. She was a really great person to get to know. I'm excited to become one of her athletes."