Dawgs still in national top 20 after Nuttycombe in latest USTFCCCA poll...
NEW ORLEANS--After last weekend's Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, both Washington cross country teams are in the national top 20 in the latest USTFCCCA Division I coaches' poll released Tuesday, while the Gonzaga men's squad finds itself out of the top 30 for the first time all season.
With many of the teams with national title aspirations opting to go to Wisconsin instead of the Weis-Crockett Invitational on this year's NCAA championship course in Stillwater, the Nuttycombe gave observers a true indication of what teams have legitimate championship hopes.
The Husky men's team, which was ranked 26th going into the Nuttycombe, moved up six spots to number 20, as Brian Fay (Paul Merca photo) led the team to a 15th place finish after he placed 34th in his first cross country meet of the season.
Gonzaga's failure to have runners close to Wil Smith, who finished 32nd, bounced the Bulldogs out of the national top 30 after going into the Wisconsin meet ranked number 14.
The nation's top five men's teams are in order: Nuttycombe winner Stanford, followed by BYU, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, and Air Force.
Teams from the Pac-12 and West Coast Conferences ranked in the national top 30 include number 10 Colorado, number 14 Portland, and number 15 Oregon.
The Washington women's team, which entered the Wisconsin meet ranked number 9, dropped ten spots to number 19 after their 16th place team finish Friday, in a meet in which they were missing team leader Haley Herberg & Naomi Smith.
Despite missing Herberg and Smith, UW director Maurica Powell was disappointed in the performance of her upperclassmen.
Nothing changed among the top-5 for a second consecutive week. NC State reeled in all 11 first-place votes to remain the nation’s top squad, followed by No. 2 New Mexico, No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Northern Arizona and No. 5 BYU.
Teams from the Pac-12 and West Coast Conference ranked in the national top 30 include number 9 Stanford, number 10 Utah, number 12 Oregon, and number 30 Oregon State.
For teams like Gonzaga, which were nationally ranked earlier in the season, it will put more pressure on them to finish in the top 2 at the regional championships, and/or beat out the schools in the region that beat them in Wisconsin. The regionals will be held on November 11th at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place.
All five of Washington's Division I schools are off this week in preparation for next week's conference championship meets.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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