Gonzaga, Washington, and Washington State converge upon Madison for Wisconsin Pre-Nationals...
Washington and Washington State’s teams will run head-to-head against each other in the two White races, with the women’s White 6k race going off at 10:45 am (8:45 am Pacific), and the men’s White 8k race at 12:15 pm (10:15 am Pacific).
Gonzaga, which only sent a men’s team to Madison, will run in the men’s Cardinal race at 11:30 am (9:30 Pacific).
The Wisconsin Pre-Nationals consists of two evenly-seeded races (Cardinal and White), with each race consisting of 35 teams with an equal number of nationally ranked teams in each race.
For those teams that are looking to return to Madison in a month for the NCAA championship race, this meet is a great opportunity to find out how they stack against the best teams in the country, and pick up points towards qualifying for the national championships should those teams not earn an automatic qualifying spot in the various regional championship races.
Saturday's forecast is for clear skies, with temperatures in the low 40s for the start of the women's Cardinal 6k race, featuring number 1 ranked Colorado, along with #4 Oregon, #23 Portland, and Portland State. Pac-12 members Arizona, Cal, and UCLA are also in the Cardinal race.
The women’s White race that the #16 ranked Huskies and the unranked Cougars are in, features defending national champion and #3 ranked New Mexico, along with #5 Stanford, #8 Wisconsin, #10 Michigan, #12 Furman, along with Pac-12 member USC.
The men’s Cardinal 8k race has the Bulldogs of Gonzaga and their outstanding freshman James Mwaura (left/photo by Paul Merca) in his first meaningful race against national caliber competition.
Among the teams the Zags will face are defending national champion and #1 ranked Northern Arizona, #3 Wisconsin, #5 Stanford, #9 Colorado State, #11 Colorado, #13 Oregon, and #15 Southern Utah, along with Cal and Arizona State from the Pac-12.
In the men’s White race at 12:15 pm (10:15 am, Pacific), both the Huskies and Cougars, who are ranked #12 and #17 in the USTFCCCA coaches poll, face #2 BYU, #4 Portland, #8 Syracuse, #9 Purdue, #10 Air Force, and #25 UCLA, along with Arizona from the Pac-12.
Media partner Flotrack ($) will offer live streaming coverage of the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals.
The link to live results is available here.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga’s women’s team along with Seattle University and Eastern Washington heads to Santa Clara for the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational.
Also, teams from Washington State, Gonzaga, Eastern Washington, Central Washington and Seattle Pacific head to Lewiston, Idaho for the Inland Empire Championships, while Saint Martin’s heads to Portland to run in the Warner Pacific Cross Country Classic.
Please check with the school’s cross country page for details on the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational, Inland Empire Championships, and the Warner Pacific Cross Country Classic.
NOTE: The University of Wisconsin contributed to this report.
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