Doing our best to catch up on college cross country...

Now that we’ve returned home from Doha and the IAAF World Track & Field Championships, it’s time to refocus the coverage back to the collegiate cross country season, which has been so badly neglected.

We’ll start our efforts to catch up with what we’ve missed by posting a series of links to various web sites:

—The University of Washington men’s and women’s cross country teams remain in the top 10 of the most current USTFCCCA coaches polls, with the Husky men checking in at number 4, and the women’s squad ranked number 8.

On the men's side, Northern Arizona, BYU, Colorado, Washington & Stanford are the nation's top five teams, while the women are led by Arkansas, BYU, Colorado, New Mexico & Stanford.

The Washington men won last Saturday's John Payne/Curtis Invitational at Chambers Bay in University Place, led by Mick Stanovsek (left/photo by Paul Merca), who won in a time of 24:31 over 8k.

The Husky women's team were fifth at the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame, led by Melany Smart, who was fourth in 16:22.  Utah of the Pac-12 was the team champs with 110 points.

--Gonzaga took 14th in the men's race at the Piane Invitational at Notre Dame last Friday, led by James Mwaura, who finished eighth in a time of 23:31.

--Seattle University won the women's team title at the John Payne/Curtis Invitational at Chambers Bay on October 5th, led by individual winner Olivia Stein, who ran 17:24. Hamza Ali was the first Redhawk to cross the line in the men's 8k, finishing 11th in 25:33.

--Last Saturday (October 5th), Eastern Washington traveled to Salem, Oregon for the Charles Bowles Invitational hosted by Willamette University.  The Eagles were third in the men's team race, while the women's squad finished fourth.  Carter Ledwith and Rees Jacot were the top runners across the line for the Eags.

--Washington State was idle last weekend, but competed the week before at the Bill Dellinger Invitational, hosted by the University of Oregon. Amir Ado and Zorana Grujic led the way for the Cougs, who finished tenth in the men's team race, and 12th in the women's team competition.

--In Division II, Seattle Pacific's men's squad took third at the John Payne/Curtis Invitational last Saturday, led by Elius Graff, who finished 19th in 26:11.

--Central Washington's women's squad took second, and the men's team was fourth at the John Payne/Curtis Invitational Saturday. Lily Tyrell was the Wildcats' top runner, finishing eighth in 18:22 for 5k, while Trevor Allen was 12th in 25:40.

--Saint Martin's Nick Sarysz and Elaina Hansen led the way for the Saints at last Saturday's John Payne/Curtis Invitational. Sarysz ran 26:26 for 8k to finish 22nd overall, while Hansen was 24th overall in 19:15.

--Western Washington was the only Division II school idle last weekend. The weekend before, the Vikings, who are ranked #17 in the most recent USTFCCCA women's national poll, finished fourth in both races at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 28th, hosted by the University of Minnesota.

Talia Dreicer led the way for the Vikes in the women's race with her 15th place finish in 23:08 for 6k,  while Eric Hamel was the top runner for WWU in the men's 8k in 16th place in 26:09.

The latest Division II USTFCCCA poll releases later Wednesday.  The Vikings will host the Western Washington Invitational Saturday at Sudden Valley GC in Bellingham Saturday, with all four Washington GNAC schools expected to field full teams in its final regular season meet before the GNAC championships in two weeks.

NOTE:  The sports information offices of all nine Washington Division I & II schools contributed to this report.

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