Husky women earn biggest win in Powell era as they take Pre-Nationals crown...
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana—The University of Washington women’s cross country team accomplished its biggest win in the Maurica Powell era, as the number 8 ranked Huskies won the Under Armour Pre-Nationals Blue Race (seeded) team title at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course Saturday, hosted by Indiana State University on the same venue that will host the 2019 NCAA cross country championships.
The Dawgs got the victory by an 84-87 count over number 2 ranked BYU, with #3 ranked Colorado third with 126 points.
The women's team won Pre-Nationals for the third time and first since winning back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009. The team ran composed and ran together, with the exception of senior Katie Rainsberger who was at the front of the race throughout and led the women with a sixth-place finish. But behind her it was the depth of the squad that moved up consistently throughout the race to secure the team win.
Rainsberger was at the very front of the lead pack for the entire 6k race, coming through in 20:14 to finish sixth overall. Sophomore Shona McCulloch (left/photo by Paul Merca) had one of her best ever runs today as she was 12th in 20:30. Senior Lilli Burdon and junior Allie Schadler crossed side-by-side in 21st and 22nd, respectively, in matching 20:38 times.
Sophomore Camila David-Smith then capped the scoring with a 28th-place finish in 20:42 to give the Huskies a 28 second 1-5 split. Senior Kaitlyn Neal was 80th and junior Hannah Waskom was 104th in the field of more than 250 runners.
BYU’s Erika Bird took the women’s individual crown, covering the course in 20:03.
Husky program director Maurica Powell said afterwards, "Their execution was what was best about it," said Powell about the Husky victory. "Katie did exactly what she intended to do and behind her we had Lilli, Shona, and Allie running the whole race together until the final stretch, and Camila did a really nice job sitting off of those guys and closing the last 2k."
Washington ran without Australian freshman Melany Smart, who was given the race off.
In the men’s 8k, the Huskies, who entered the day as the nation’s number 4 ranked team in the latest USTFCCCA poll, finished fourth in the Blue Race with a final score of 160 points, as number 2 ranked BYU won with 81 points, followed by number 3 ranked Colorado at 83 points, and number 21 Iona was third with 140 points.
Washington was led by senior Andrew Jordan, a transfer from Iowa State, as he turned in an impressive seventh-place effort in a time of 23:34 for the 8k course. Junior Talon Hull got a top-25 finish as he was 23rd in 23:57, and junior All-American Tibebu Proctor was 31st in 24:09. Senior Mick Stanovsek was the No. 4 scorer in 46th-place and junior Jack Rowe finished in 53rd in 24:28 to cap the points. Julius Diehr was the sixth man in 72nd in a time of 24:36 and Alex Slenning was 80th in 24:40.
Mt. Spokane HS alum John Dressel, a cross country All-American for Colorado, led the way for the Buffaloes, with his eighth place finish in 23:35, one second behind Jordan.
While head coach Andy Powell was pleased with the overall effort, he felt that the 1-5 gap needs to be tighter for the next three races, as the Husky men finished with a 1-5 split of 54 seconds.
"Most of our guys haven't raced in a month so it was a good rust-buster and a wake-up call before conference in two weeks," he said. "We faced a good Colorado team today and we've got to get a lot better and close the gap, but we're definitely a much better a team than we showed today. We're healthy and on track and just need to clean a few things up and get ready for the postseason."
BYU’s Conner Mantz won the men’s title in 23:21.
In the men’s White race, Washington alum Andy Snyder, who is now a graduate transfer at San Francisco, was third in 24:51.
The men’s open race saw UW freshman Sam Tanner from New Zealand finish third in 24:41, while the Huskies’ Gavin Parpart was seventh in 25:06.
Andrea Markezich was the top finisher for Washington in the women’s open race, running 22:01 to finish 15th, followed by Kiera Marshall in 17th in 22:10.
Complete results of the Under Armour Pre-Nationals are available here.
Elsewhere, Eastern Washington and Seattle University finished 15th and 16th in the men’s invitational section at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Saturday at Bayland’s Park in Sunnyvale, California Saturday.
The Eagles had a final team score of 375 points in the 23-team men’s field, while Seattle University had 387 points.
The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara won with 52 points. Kevin Lynch of Utah Valley was the individual champ at 23:43.
Carter Ledwith led the way for Eastern Washington, running 24:39 for 8k to finish 24th, while Nathan Pixler was the top Redhawk across the line in 57th, in a time of 25:02.
In the women’s 6k race, the Redhawks were 14th in the 26 team field with 360 points, while Eastern Washington was 21st with 543 points.
Olivia Stein led the way for SeattleU with her 23rd place finish in 20:59, while Kenzie Gaines was the first Eagle across the line in 42nd place in 21:22.
Jenny Sandoval of San Jose State won the individual title in 20:18, while Utah Valley won the team title with 105 points.
The complete results of the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational are available here.
In College Station, Texas, Claire Manley led the Gonzaga women's cross country team to a seventh-place finish at the Arturo Barrios Invitational Saturday. The redshirt junior placed 13th at the meet hosted by Texas A&M.
Manley ran 20:50 for the 6k course.
Jessica Pascoe of Florida was the individual winner in 20:01, while Cal Baptist won the team title with 75 points.
Complete results of the Arturo Barrios Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Indiana State University, Santa Clara University, Eastern Washington University, Seattle University, Texas A&M, and Gonzaga University contributed to this report.
The Dawgs got the victory by an 84-87 count over number 2 ranked BYU, with #3 ranked Colorado third with 126 points.
Rainsberger was at the very front of the lead pack for the entire 6k race, coming through in 20:14 to finish sixth overall. Sophomore Shona McCulloch (left/photo by Paul Merca) had one of her best ever runs today as she was 12th in 20:30. Senior Lilli Burdon and junior Allie Schadler crossed side-by-side in 21st and 22nd, respectively, in matching 20:38 times.
Sophomore Camila David-Smith then capped the scoring with a 28th-place finish in 20:42 to give the Huskies a 28 second 1-5 split. Senior Kaitlyn Neal was 80th and junior Hannah Waskom was 104th in the field of more than 250 runners.
BYU’s Erika Bird took the women’s individual crown, covering the course in 20:03.
Husky program director Maurica Powell said afterwards, "Their execution was what was best about it," said Powell about the Husky victory. "Katie did exactly what she intended to do and behind her we had Lilli, Shona, and Allie running the whole race together until the final stretch, and Camila did a really nice job sitting off of those guys and closing the last 2k."
Washington ran without Australian freshman Melany Smart, who was given the race off.
In the men’s 8k, the Huskies, who entered the day as the nation’s number 4 ranked team in the latest USTFCCCA poll, finished fourth in the Blue Race with a final score of 160 points, as number 2 ranked BYU won with 81 points, followed by number 3 ranked Colorado at 83 points, and number 21 Iona was third with 140 points.
Washington was led by senior Andrew Jordan, a transfer from Iowa State, as he turned in an impressive seventh-place effort in a time of 23:34 for the 8k course. Junior Talon Hull got a top-25 finish as he was 23rd in 23:57, and junior All-American Tibebu Proctor was 31st in 24:09. Senior Mick Stanovsek was the No. 4 scorer in 46th-place and junior Jack Rowe finished in 53rd in 24:28 to cap the points. Julius Diehr was the sixth man in 72nd in a time of 24:36 and Alex Slenning was 80th in 24:40.
Mt. Spokane HS alum John Dressel, a cross country All-American for Colorado, led the way for the Buffaloes, with his eighth place finish in 23:35, one second behind Jordan.
While head coach Andy Powell was pleased with the overall effort, he felt that the 1-5 gap needs to be tighter for the next three races, as the Husky men finished with a 1-5 split of 54 seconds.
"Most of our guys haven't raced in a month so it was a good rust-buster and a wake-up call before conference in two weeks," he said. "We faced a good Colorado team today and we've got to get a lot better and close the gap, but we're definitely a much better a team than we showed today. We're healthy and on track and just need to clean a few things up and get ready for the postseason."
BYU’s Conner Mantz won the men’s title in 23:21.
In the men’s White race, Washington alum Andy Snyder, who is now a graduate transfer at San Francisco, was third in 24:51.
The men’s open race saw UW freshman Sam Tanner from New Zealand finish third in 24:41, while the Huskies’ Gavin Parpart was seventh in 25:06.
Andrea Markezich was the top finisher for Washington in the women’s open race, running 22:01 to finish 15th, followed by Kiera Marshall in 17th in 22:10.
Complete results of the Under Armour Pre-Nationals are available here.
Elsewhere, Eastern Washington and Seattle University finished 15th and 16th in the men’s invitational section at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Saturday at Bayland’s Park in Sunnyvale, California Saturday.
The Eagles had a final team score of 375 points in the 23-team men’s field, while Seattle University had 387 points.
The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara won with 52 points. Kevin Lynch of Utah Valley was the individual champ at 23:43.
Carter Ledwith led the way for Eastern Washington, running 24:39 for 8k to finish 24th, while Nathan Pixler was the top Redhawk across the line in 57th, in a time of 25:02.
In the women’s 6k race, the Redhawks were 14th in the 26 team field with 360 points, while Eastern Washington was 21st with 543 points.
Olivia Stein led the way for SeattleU with her 23rd place finish in 20:59, while Kenzie Gaines was the first Eagle across the line in 42nd place in 21:22.
Jenny Sandoval of San Jose State won the individual title in 20:18, while Utah Valley won the team title with 105 points.
The complete results of the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational are available here.
In College Station, Texas, Claire Manley led the Gonzaga women's cross country team to a seventh-place finish at the Arturo Barrios Invitational Saturday. The redshirt junior placed 13th at the meet hosted by Texas A&M.
Manley ran 20:50 for the 6k course.
Jessica Pascoe of Florida was the individual winner in 20:01, while Cal Baptist won the team title with 75 points.
Complete results of the Arturo Barrios Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Indiana State University, Santa Clara University, Eastern Washington University, Seattle University, Texas A&M, and Gonzaga University contributed to this report.
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