THE WEEKEND AHEAD: Gonzaga men & Huskies head to Wisconsin as all five D1 schools are in action...
This weekend, it's the Division I schools who will be racing this week as they prepare for their championship meets in two weeks.
The Gonzaga men's team, which is ranked number 23 in the latest USTFCCCA Division I poll, along with both Washington cross country squads, are off to Madison, Wisconsin for the prestigious Under Armour Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
All three teams will have their work cut out for them, as on the men's side, 23 of the nation's top 30 teams are in the field, while on the women's side, 22 ranked teams, including the number 8 Huskies, are among the schools in the field of 34.
Wil Smith (Paul Merca photo) leads the Zags into Madison, where he finished 32nd last year in 23:38. Smith is coming off a second place finish two weeks ago at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota. Smith is probably the early favorite to take the West Coast Conference championship in two weeks in Malibu, California as the top returning runner from last year.
He'll also (based on entries posted) have running behind him Kyle Radosevich, who was seventh at Griak, and Drew Kolodge, who finished 16th two weeks ago.
The Washington men, who find themselves unranked going into the Nuttycombe after a 17th place finish at the Virginia Invitational on September 23rd, will be led by NCAA indoor mile champ Luke Houser, who was tenth at Virginia.
The Dawgs, who ran shorthanded in Virginia, are expected to run NCAA 1500 meter champ Nathan Green, as well as world championships competitor Joe Waskom, and UCLA transfer Ronan McMahon-Staggs, who was an NCAA indoor qualifier in the mile.
Maurica Powell's Husky women, who enter the meet ranked eighth in the coaches' poll, are coming off a surprising fourth place finish at Virginia, in a meet where they weren't expected to run Sophie O'Sullivan, after racing all summer on the track in Europe.
The Huskies are also expected to race Virginia scorers Chloe Foerster, who was 18th, Julia David-Smith who was 30th, India Weir (33rd), and Ella Borsheim (35th).
The women's 6k race is scheduled for 12:20 pm local time (10:20 am Pacific), with the men's 8k starting at 1:00 pm local time (11:00 am Pacific).
Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream the Nuttycombe Invitational.
Both Washington State teams head across the country to Charlottesville, Virginia for the Pre-Nationals meet hosted by the University of Virginia on Saturday at the Panorama Farms course.
While the meet isn't as loaded as the Nuttycombe, there are some nationally ranked teams in the field, led by the tenth-ranked Virginia men, and the number six BYU women.
The Cougs will also run into Pac-12 opponents Arizona and Oregon at Pre-Nats.
The men's 8k race begins at 9:40 am local time (6:40 pm Pacific), with the women's 6k going at 10:30 am local time (7:30 am Pacific).
The Pre-Nationals will be streamed on ESPN+ and the ACC Network.
The Gonzaga women, which enters the weekend nationally ranked at number 27 after a strong fifth place finish at the Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, will forego a trip to Wisconsin and stay on the West Coast, running at the Bronco Invitational in Sunnyvale, California's Badlands Regional Park, hosted by Santa Clara University.
While team entries as of Wednesday afternoon have not been posted, it's expected that Gonzaga will run their top runners, including Rosina Machu, who won the Lakefront Invitational.
Runners from Eastern Washington, along with both Gonzaga squads and Washington State not traveling, will make the drive to Lewiston, Idaho for the Lewis-Clark State Invitational on Saturday.
The race gets underway at 9:30 with the women's 5k, and the men's 8k going an hour later.
The link to live results isn't available yet, but information on the meet is available on the Lewis-Clark website.
Finally, Seattle University makes its third trip to the state of Oregon for the Linfield George Oja Invitational at Oak Knoll Golf Course, hosted by Linfield University Saturday.
The field is primarily comprised of Division II and III teams with some community college and NAIA squads. The only Division I teams in the field besides SeattleU are Oregon State and Portland, both of which have their top runners competing at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Wisconsin the day before.
The race begins Saturday morning at 9:30 am with the women's 5k, followed by the men's 8k an hour later.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Wisconsin, Gonzaga University, University of Washington, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, Seattle University and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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