The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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JULY 2014 ■ 137 Five Seniors Who Made An Impact During Their Time At NC State Each year at the end of the academic calendar, The Wolfpacker salutes athletes in the outgoing senior class who left their mark with outstanding performances. • Jonathan Boffa, Swimming: The native of Verona, Italy, (who has dual-citi- zenship status with both the United States and Italy) had an ultra-successful collegiate career and played a huge role in turning around the swimming and diving program at NC State, which finished 15th nationally during the 2012-13 campaign and then improved to 13th in his last year. Two years ago marked the Pack's first top-20 finish since 1978-79, while the men also placed second in the ACC this past year for their best conference placement since 1995-96. Boffa enjoyed a memorable sophomore campaign, breaking the school record in the 100 freestyle and swimming a leg on the 400-medley relay squad that won the ACC crown. He qualified for the NCAA Championships in three events and also competed in the 100 freestyle at the U.S. Olympic Trials. He built on that with his first individual All-ACC honor in 2013, taking second in the 100 freestyle, and won conference gold as a member of the 400 freestyle relay. He broke his own NC State mark in the 100 freestyle and set the school record in the 200 freestyle. His performance in the 100 free at the NCAA Championships earned him his first individual All-America certificate. As a senior, Boffa was honored with the Wolfpack's State Award, which is awarded to the swimmer with the most outstanding performances throughout the year. He earned first-team All-America honors as a part of the 400 and 800 freestyle relay squads. He also swam on the 400 medley relay, which earned an All-America honorable mention for its finish. At the ACC Championships, the senior won a bronze medal in the 100 free and was a part of three relay teams that claimed gold, including two that set all-time ACC records. • Kody Burke, Women's Basketball: A lot of attention was given — and rightfully so — to fellow senior Markeisha Gatling, the Wolfpack's excel - lent center who was selected with the 10th pick in the WNBA Draft, but the four-year contributions of Burke cannot be overlooked. She was named the ACC's Kay Yow Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a first-team Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American — just the program's third such selection — off the court, while she was an All-ACC second-team selection for her play on the hardwood. Burke started all 33 games for the Pack, which finished the season ranked 21st nationally, and she averaged 14.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 blocks per game. The 6-2 forward ended her career second in pro - gram history for career appearances (132) and blocks (197), ninth in rebounds (832) and 11th in points scored (1,588). She was named the recipient of the team's Leader of the Pack Award and was a four-time ACC All-Academic honoree. Burke was selected in the third round of the WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics with the 32nd overall pick. It marked the first time since 2007 that NCSU had a pair selected in the draft, but after two preseason games, Burke was cut. She quickly accepted a job offer from PNC Bank, and the Northridge, Calif., native will continue to work in Raleigh. • Brittany Marchand, Women's Golf: Marchand was one-half of the Pack golfers' impressive one-two punch at the top of the lineup, along with junior Augusta James, that led the team to the most successful season in program annals. Both were awarded honorable mention All-America honors from the Women's Golf Coaches Association after helping the Pack tie for 10th at the NCAA Championships in May; it was the second such honor for Marchand. The native of Orangeville, Ontario, finished her career with three straight All-ACC laurels and ranked second on the team as a senior with a 73.5 scoring average, less than one stroke behind James. She posted four top-10 showings in her final year of eligibility, including a tie for fifth at the ACC Championships, where State placed third. During her sophomore season, Marchand captured medalist honors at the Cards Challenge and Pinehurst Spring Challenge to become the first woman in school his - tory to win multiple events in the season. She was also the first in program history to earn All-America distinctions with an honorable mention in 2011-12 after she tied for sixth at the NCAA Championships. She also won the UNCG Starmount Fall Classic as a freshman. Marchand also shined in the classroom, earning Ac - ademic All-ACC honors every year she was at State. • Alex Martinez, Soccer: The midfielder was only at NC State for two years, but he certainly made his mark on the soccer program after transferring from High Point prior to the 2012 campaign. In his first season in Raleigh, he became the first Wolfpacker under third-year head coach Kelly Findley to be named first-team All-ACC and the school's first such honoree since 2009. Martinez led the ACC in assists (10), while he ranked second in points (32) and third in goals (11). He was the first NCSU player to notch double-digit goals and assists in the same season since 1991, helped the team climb as high as No. 14 in the na - tional rankings and was named first-team all-region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. As a senior, the Rock Hill, S.C., native was named to the All-ACC and all-region third teams after he recorded eight assists and two goals on the year. Martinez was later selected in the third round of the MLS SuperDraft by Sporting Kansas City with the 57th overall pick. He marked the Pack's first professional soccer draftee since 2011, and, in his final campaign, helped the team record its most ACC wins (three) since 2006 and climb 55 spots in the NCAA's RPI rankings to threaten for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. • Chelsea Tate, Softball: The recurring theme on this list is players helping their Wolfpack teams reach either unprecedented heights or accomplish feats that had not been done for an extended pe - riod of time. Tate and her classmates on the softball squad helped NCSU to a record-setting campaign in 2013 that included the program's second ACC title and nearly 40 team and individual school records. After they finished with a 25-31 mark in 2012, they stormed to an ACC crown and NCAA regional ap - pearance in 2013 thanks to a 35-20-1 overall mark. After seeing action as a versatile utility player in her first two seasons, Tate started to settle in as a junior. She opened 55 of 56 games at either second base or in the outfield and hit a career-best .275 on the year. Her .405 on-base percentage led the team and she was hit by pitch 13 times, just one shy of the school record. She also scored 30 times, drove in 15 runs and blasted four round-trippers. As a senior, she was one of just three Pack players to start every game — all 54 starts came at second base — and the Pack returned to a regional final. The squad became the first in program history to win the first two games of a regional, and they pushed No. 4 overall seed Georgia to the brink before being eliminated. Tate tallied 30 hits, including eight home runs — which ranked third on the team — while she also drove in 19 runs and scored 21 times. In the field, she notched 85 putouts and 97 assists against just four errors. Tate did not miss a game during her last two years on campus, and she started in 183 of the 213 games played during her four seasons. The Mission Viejo, Calif., native recorded a career batting average of .232, to go along with 108 hits, 69 runs scored, 49 RBI, 15 doubles and 13 home runs. — Ryan Tice Last year, midfielder Alex Martinez became the first NC State men's soccer player to notch double-digit goals (11) and assists (10) in the same season since 1991. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP 134-137.Year End Superlatives.indd 137 6/26/14 4:51 PM