Washington men & Gonzaga women make significant jumps in USTFCCCA coaches poll after Nuttycombe...
NEW ORLEANS--Enough of the early season cross country meets disguised as tempo runs in school uniforms.
After the first true weekend of meaningful cross country meet throughout the country with meets in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri involving many of the top 30 schools in the USTFCCCA Division I coaches poll, there was some significant movement in the order.
The University of Washington men's team, coming off a fifth place finish at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday, were one of the biggest movers in the national coaches' poll released Tuesday.
Washington was led at Nuttycombe by Tyrone Gorze (Paul Merca photo), who finished 27th in 23:59 over the 8k course.
The Huskies, who were ranked 27th going into last weekend, rocketed up 14 spots to number 13 after beating 11 teams ranked in the top-30, including top-20 squads in No. 14 Eastern Kentucky, No. 16 Portland, No. 17 Villanova, No. 18 Princeton, and No. 19 Syracuse.
There was no change in the national top 5, which are in order: Oklahoma State, BYU, Arkansas, Northern Arizona, and Iowa State.
Schools in the Big Ten in the national top 30 include number 15 Michigan, number 18 Wisconsin, number 22 Oregon, and number 30 Michigan State.
Portland at number 24 is the only team from the West Coast Conference ranked. Gonzaga, which finished 17th at Nuttycombe, was the first team receiving votes outside the top 30.
Teams from the West Region in the top 30 include number 6 Stanford, and number 29 Cal Baptist.
In the women's national top 30, Washington moved up one spot to number 4, while Gonzaga moved up five spots to number 18.
The nation's top five teams are in order: co-number one North Carolina State and Northern Arizona; Notre Dame, Washington and BYU.
Teams from the Big Ten include number 10 Wisconsin, number 12 Oregon (down from number 4 after a 9th place finish at Nuttycombe, where they held out Maddy Elmore, Olympian Klaudia Kazimierska, and Silan Ayyildiz), number 21 Penn State, and number 25 Michigan State.
The Zags are the only WCC team in the national top 30, while Stanford at number 7 is the only other team besides UW, Oregon, and Gonzaga ranked in the top 30 from the West Region.
NIA AKINS SPEAKS FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT DEPARTING THE BROOKS BEASTS...
While we were in Wisconsin at the Nuttycombe Invitational, the first ever Athlos NYC meet was held at Icahn Stadium in New York on Thursday night.
US Olympic Trials champion Nia Akins was sixth in the 800 in 2:01.32, in a race won by Tsige Duguma of Ethiopia in 1:57.43.
In the mixed zone post race, she talked to several reporters about her decision after the Olympics to leave the Seattle based Brooks Beasts as well as ending her contract with Brooks.
"Personally, I wasn't happy, and I just kept pushing through it...I wanted to make that change immediately. I was really passionate about it."
Perhaps because of possible non-disclosure agreements between her and Brooks, along with any pending negotiations between her agent Ray Flynn and future sponsors, Akins was very measured in her answers to reporters' questioning.
She did say that moving forward, she will be coached by Derek Thompson and will move back to Philadelphia from Seattle, where she attended the University of Pennsylvania.
Thompson is the long time coach of Ajee' Wilson, and former coach of Raevyn Rogers.
Akins also said that at some point, she will talk about the reasons behind leaving the Brooks Beasts.
Courtesy of LetsRun.com, here is the full interview.
GONZAGA MOVES TO THE PAC-12...
The shuffling of conference affiliations, powered by football and now basketball continues with the announcement Tuesday that Gonzaga will leave the West Coast Conference and join the reconstituted Pac-12 Conference starting with the 2026-27 school year.
In a news release, the announcement follows the inclusion of Boise State University, Colorado State University, California State University-Fresno, San Diego State University, and Utah State University, who collectively cement the conference’s geographic foundation while elevating its national presence.
“We are delighted to welcome Gonzaga into the Pac-12 as they embark with us on this incredible path ahead," remarked Commissioner Teresa Gould. “President McCulloh and Athletics Director Chris Standiford not only bring strategic expertise and forward thinking to the conference, but they are two incredible leaders who care deeply about student success and fortifying student-athlete academic and athletic experiences. Today represents an exciting milestone for the Pac-12 as we welcome another outstanding institution with a rich history of success into our league.”
“This is a great day for Gonzaga University,” said Gonzaga Athletics Director Chris Standiford. “We are excited to join a conference with great tradition and a commitment to innovating during this evolving time in collegiate athletics. I’d like to thank Commissioner Teresa Gould for her leadership as these talks progressed earnestly over the weekend, our alignment became evident and our vision shared.”
Gonzaga is the Pac-12's eighth member, but it does not count as the league's eighth full-time member, as the school doesn't have football. The Pac-12 still needs to add another member to reach minimum conference thresholds.
It is expected that once the full Pac-12 gets going during the 2026-27 academic year, the conference contests championships in cross country and outdoor track and field, though an indoor championship meet, which wasn't contested, is on the table as a possibility.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, Pac-12 Conference, and the sports information offices of the University of Washington and Gonzaga University contributed to this report.
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