UW women crack national top 10; Zags return to national top 30; Riley begins marathon comeback...
NEW ORLEANS--With the completion of several major early season meets around the country, the University of Washington women's cross country team (photo courtesy UW Athletics) are ranked ninth in the latest USTFCCCA Division I national coaches poll after their fourth place finish at the Virginia Invitational Saturday.
Led by world championships competitor Sophie O'Sullivan, who traveled with the team to Virginia, but wasn't expected to compete due to her heavy summer racing schedule, O'Sullivan ran to a 15th place finish, completing the 5k course in 16:40. All five Husky scorers finished inside the top 35.
The top five women's teams are in order: North Carolina State, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and Stanford.
Other Pac-12 teams ranked in the women's top 30 include number 10 Colorado, number 15 Oregon, and number 18 Utah.
On the men's side, Gonzaga, coming off a strong second place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota, returned to the national top 30 after being bumped out in the first regular season poll, coming in at number 24.
The Zags were led by Wil Smith's runner-up finish at Griak, covering the 8k course in 24:01. All five Gonzaga scorers finished inside the top 35 as well, as they had a 56-second 1-5 split.
Washington, who was missing the last two NCAA 1500 meter champions in Joe Waskom, and Nathan Green, as well as UCLA transfer Ronan McMahon-Staggs, fell out of the national top 30 from number 18.
The nation's top five men's teams are in order: Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, BYU, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.
Other Pac-12 teams ranked in the men's top 30 include number 13 Stanford, number 19 Colorado, and number 26 Oregon.
Gonzaga was the only team from the West Coast Conference ranked in the national top 30 after previous number 9 Portland fell out of the national top 30.
Both Washington squads and the Gonzaga men return to action on October 13th at the Under Armour Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin.
JAKE RILEY RUNS FIRST MARATHON SINCE DOUBLE ACHILLES SURGERY...
Lost in the news of Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa's astounding 2:11:53 run in the BMW Berlin Marathon on Sunday September 24th to lower the previous women's world record of 2:14:04 set by Brigid Kosgei of Kenya in the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, as well as the fifth fastest marathon run by Kenya's Elide Kipchoge in 2:02:42 to win the men's title, was that Bellingham native Jake Riley completed his first marathon since a bad outing at last year's Boston Marathon.
The Sehome HS product and Tokyo Olympian, who was diagnosed with Red-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) before the 2022 Boston Marathon, where he ran 2:30:48, then had double Achilles tendon surgery late last year, ran 2:18:18 in Berlin to finish 54th.
By virtue of being a Tokyo Olympian, Riley has a spot on the line for February's US Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, the USTFCCCA, and the BMW Berlin Marathon contributed to this report.
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