Wil Smith of Gonzaga, along with both UW squads, Zag women & WSU's Kurui and Cheptoo ready to race at NCAAs...
VERONA, Wisconsin--In advance of Saturday's NCAA Division I women's and men's cross country championships, all three Washington schools with athletes in the field--the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, and Washington State University took to the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course Friday morning.
With cloudy skies over the course, the Gonzaga women's team, both Washington squads, and the individuals from Washington running: Wil Smith of Gonzaga (Paul Merca photo), Evans Kurui and Zenah Cheptoo of Washington State, did a light run over the course.
Smith is competing in his fifth NCAA championship race, but will be running in the meet as an individual for the first time, after the Zags finished sixth at the West Regionals. That sixth place finish ended a streak of four straight championships which Gonzaga has qualified for the nationals as a team.
Washington's squads have raced at Wisconsin twice this season, at the Nuttycombe Invitational in late September and the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals in mid-October, while Gonzaga raced at the Nuttycombe, and Washington State at the Pre-Nationals.
The snow that hit the Madison/Verona area late Wednesday night and Thursday morning melted, with the rain helping to wash it away. There were certain parts of the course that were closed to all teams as a precautionary measure to make it race ready Saturday.
The forecast for Saturday morning is for cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid to high 30s at the start of the women's 6k race at 9:20 am local time/7:20 am Pacific.
The men's 10k follows the women's 6k at 10:10 am local time/8:10 am Pacific.
ESPNU and the ESPN App will offer uninterrupted live coverage of the NCAA Division I cross country championships with its pre-race show starting at 6:30 am Pacific.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, NCAA, and the sports information offices of Gonzaga University, the University of Washington and Washington State University contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.
Comments