UW squads finish mid-pack, while Zags have rough outing at Nuttycombe Invite...
MADISON, Wisconsin--The Washington men's and women's cross country teams finished in the middle of the pack at the Nuttycombe Invitational Friday morning at the Zimmer Championship Course, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
The men's squad, which came in rated number 26th in the last USTFCCCA poll, finished 15th with 398 points, and beat out six top-30 teams including No. 11 Iowa State, No. 14 Gonzaga, No. 20 Harvard, No. 23 Utah State, No. 27 Michigan State, and No. 28 Georgetown.
Brian Fay (Paul Merca photo) led the way for the Dawgs, finishing 34th in 23:37. He moved up at every split, from 96th at the 2k mark, to 57th at the halfway point, then 46th at 6k and 34th at the finish.
Isaac Green also moved up throughout, from 104th, to 77th, to 57th, and finishing in 52nd in 23:47. Luke Houser was the third Husky finisher in 73rd in 23:56. Sam Affolder came through in 114th in 24:09, and Joe Waskom capped the scoring in 128th in 24:14.
In contrast, Gonzaga's men, which came in ranked 14th in the national coaches' poll, finished 26th with 682 points, and will most likely drop in the rankings when they come out on Tuesday.
Wil Smith led the way for the Zags, with a 32nd place finish in 23:38.
Cullen McEachern (156th, 24:27), Bryce Cerkowniak (158th, 24:28), Dominic Arce (160th, 24:28), and Riley Moore (188th, 24:45) rounded out Gonzaga's scorers.
The biggest surprise of the day came from team leader Yacine Guermali, who started up front with Smith, but dropped back to 227th in 25:27.
"It was good to have everyone back healthy and it was a bit of a conservative effort but all in all it was a solid day," said Washington head coach Andy Powell. "Brian and Isaac ran really well, great to have Leo back. We were a little banged up at the start of the season so we're going to have to improve here in the next month if we want to make Nationals. But I'm optimistic that we can do it."
Stanford won the men's team title with 54 points.
The Cardinal were led by Ky Robinson and Charles Hicks, who finished 1-3 in 23:10 and 23:13. Robinson caught Northern Arizona's Nico Young right before the line, as both were credited with the same time.
The ninth ranked Husky women's team finished 16th with a final team score of 515 points in a meet that had 23 of the nation's top 30 teams in the field.
The Husky women's team finished ahead of eight ranked squads including No. 14 Arkansas, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 18 Michigan, No. 19 Utah Valley, No. 22 Colorado State, No. 24 Florida State, No. 24 Furman, and No. 30 Harvard, and UW was just four points behind No. 16 Providence and nine points behind No. 15 Syracuse.
Anna Gibson led the way for Washington in 39th-place in 20:26. Freshman Sophia Nordenholz then placed 94th in 20:51 and Andrea Markezich and freshman Ella Borsheim were a second apart at 119th and 120th in 21-minutes flat. Sophie O'Sullivan capped the scoring in 144th-place in 21:10.
It was a rough go for the Gonzaga women, as they finished 36th with 977 points.
Kristen Garcia led the way for Gonzaga in 121st (21:02).
Behind her for the Bulldogs were Alicia Anderson, who picked off 26 runners in the final 2,000 meters to finish 168th (21:20). Caramia Mestler (211th, 21:46), Makenna Edwards (253rd, 22:37), and Kate Donaldson (261st, 23:05).
"We certainly got what we came for today," said Husky director Maurica Powell on the women's team. "But we leave unsatisfied with a poorly executed race by our older women, and we really needed them to off-set what is always a big learning opportunity for the freshmen. We'll get back to work for a better team performance in two weeks."
Number one ranked North Carolina State won the team title 80-80 on a head to head tiebreaker with New Mexico State (3-2).
NC State's Katelyn Tuohy won the women's individual title over the 6k course in 19:45.
Among notables with Washington ties, former Seattle Pacific All-American Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State finished fourth in 20:01, and Woodinville native Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame was 17th in 20:12.
WASHINGTON STATE HEADS TO PRE-NATIONALS, WHILE EASTERN WASHINGTON & SEATTLEU COMPETE IN OREGON
The Washington State cross country team heads to Stillwater, Oklahoma for Saturday's Weis-Crockett Invitational, hosted by Oklahoma State University on the OSU Cross Country Course that will host the NCAA championships next month.
Racing gets underway at 8:30 am local time/6:30 am Pacific with the men's 8k, and concludes with the women's 6k at 9:20 am local time/7:20 am Pacific.
Among the ranked teams the Cougars will face include Arkansas (Men #21), Cal Baptist (Women #19 & Men #29), Montana State (Men #25), and host Oklahoma State (Women #3, Men #4).
Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State, who is one of the favorites for the NCAA individual title, is expected to compete for the Cowgirls, but will be pressed by freshman teammate Natalie Cook, who won the Cowboy Jamboree at the end of September on this course.
Also on Saturday, both Eastern Washington and Seattle University make the trip to Estacada, Oregon, about 30 miles southeast of Portland to run in the Lewis & Clark Invitational at Milo McIver State Park.
Among the Division I teams entered are B squads from Oregon State, Portland & Portland State, as well as a bevy of Division III, NAIA, and community colleges from Washington, Oregon and Idaho.
The women's 6k begins at 10:15 am, while the men's 8k starts at 11 am.
None of Washington's Division II schools are in action this weekend, as they prepare for next week's NCAA Pre-Nationals at Chambers Creek Park in University Place, hosted by Seattle Pacific.
NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, the University of Wisconsin and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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