Zags and Dawgs greeted by warm temps in advance of Friday's Nuttycombe Invitational...
MADISON, Wisconsin--Under sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70s, both the Gonzaga and Washington men's and women's teams took to the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course the day before Friday's Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
Normally contested in mid-October, the Nuttycombe is being held at the end of September, as the University of Wisconsin is hosting the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals meet in the spot where the Nuttycombe is held.
The goal for all the teams entered in the Nuttycombe is to return to Madison on November 23rd for the NCAA Division I cross country championships, where temperatures will be significantly cooler.
Both Gonzaga and Washington will have for the most part, the key runners they expect to toe the line in November.
The one major exception to this is the Huskies' Sophie O'Sullivan, who took some time off after the Olympics to rest and recover after racing through August.
Washington will debut Amina Maatoug (Paul Merca photo), who transferred to UW from Duke University, where she finished ninth at last year's NCAA cross country championships in Virginia.
Most of Gonzaga's top runners, including Wil Smith on the men's side, and All-American Rosina Machu on the women's squad, are making their season debuts Friday.
For an early season meet, the Nuttycombe has all the feeling of a major race, with 18 teams ranked or receiving votes in the women's USTFCCCA coaches' poll, led by number 4 Oregon.
Among Big Ten women's teams, there are five ranked squads in the field, including number 5 Washington, number 19 Wisconsin, number 24 Northwestern, and number 29 Penn State.
Besides Oregon, Washington and Gonzaga, Portland and Oregon State are entered from the West Region.
The men's field has 18 nationally ranked men's teams, along with 3 teams from the Big Ten, led by Wisconsin at number 13, number 26 Michigan, and the number 27 Huskies.
In addition to the Huskies and the Zags, number 16 Portland is in the field from the West Region.
The women's "B" race goes first at 9 am Pacific time, followed by the men's "B" race at 9:40 am. The women's "A" race then starts at 10:20 am PT and the men's "A" race finishes things off at 11 am PT.
Both media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) and Big Ten+ ($) will stream the meet starting at 9 am Pacific.
Meanwhile, Eastern Washington is the only other Washington Division I school in action, as both the men and women are off to Columbia, Missourt for Friday's Gans Creek Invitational, hosted by the University of Missouri.
The men's 8k will start at 6 am Pacific, while the women's 6k will start at 6:45 am.
The men's field has Stanford, UC San Diego, UCLA from the West Region, while the Cardinal and Ole Miss are the two USTFCCCA nationally ranked mens teams entered.
The women's field has five nationally ranked teams, including Florida, Lipscomb, Ole Miss, Stanford, and Tennessee. Like the men, Stanford, UC San Diego, and UCLA are the teams which come from the West Region.
On Saturday, Western Washington will host the Bill Roe Invitational at Hovander Homestead Park in Ferndale featuring Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's, along with GNAC squads from Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks and Simon Fraser, and nationally ranked Chico State.
The men's 8K gets racing started beginning at 10 am and the women's 6K following at 11 am.
Both Western Washington and Chico State are ranked in the USTFCCCA national Division II polls entering the meet.
In the women's poll, Western comes in at number 11, one spot ahead of Chico State.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University, and Western Washington University contributed to this report.
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