Cougs Longisa, Kipchoge & Kurui earn top-five finishes at Nuttycombe Invitational...
VERONA, Wisconsin--Washington State's Rosemary Longisa (Paul Merca photo) in the women's 6k race, along with Solomon Kipchoge and Evans Kurui in the men's 8k race, earned top five finishes at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational cross country race Friday morning at the Thomas Zimmer Championship course outside Madison, hosted by the University of Wisconsin.
WOMEN'S RECAP: Longisa takes third...
Longisa positioned herself at the front, with teammate Zenah Cheptoo just a few steps behind, as part of a group of twenty two rummers as the field came off the downhill portion of the race and crossed the 2 kilometer mark in 6:33.
As the field crossed the 4k mark, eventual winner Grace Hartman of North Carolina State, Longisa, Hartman's teammates and world championships steeple finalist Angelina Napoleon, and Hannah Gapes, opened up a gap on the rest of the field.
Over the final 2k, Hartman opened up a lead, with only Napoleon going with her.
Hartman took the victory in 19:31, with Napoleon second in 19:35, and Longisa third in 19:40.
The Cougars' Cheptoo was 21st in 20:18. Behind Cheptoo was Caroline Jepkorir in 72nd in 20:55, then a gap to fourth and fifth runners Kylah Madariaga in 135th and Nicole Bissell in 136th, with both running 21:28.
Those finishes from the 27th ranked Cougs earned them a 14th place finish with 365 points, one point more than the University of Washington's 364 to take 13th.
For the University of Washington, which entered the meet ranked 18th in the country, the Dawgs were led by Mia Cochran, who finished 28th in 20:23. Maeve Stiles was next across in 50th-place in 20:37.
Chloe Foerster finished 84th as the third scorer in 21:01 and then the Dawgs got a big boost from Abby DeVeau, a first-year squad member but a senior academically who played for the UW club rugby team for several years. DeVeau, in her first big collegiate cross country race, was 93rd overall in 21:05. Rounding out the scoring was Sam Tran in 109th overall.
Number 20 Gonzaga finished 16th with a final team score of 391 points.
The Zags were led by Logan Hofstee, who finished 33rd in 20:30. Jessica Frydenlund was next in 43rd place in 20:34, followed by Willow Collins in 47th one second behind.
Charlotte Dillon was 108th in 21:13, and Nina Yeats rounded out Gonzaga's five scorers in 163rd in 21:46.
Number two ranked North Carolina State won the team title with 41 points, followed by number 7 Notre Dame's 125, and number 16 Iowa State's 176 points.
MEN'S RECAP: Kipchoge & Kurui second and fifth...
Like Longisa and Cheptoo in the women's 6k, the Cougars' Solomon Kipchoge (Paul Merca photo) and All-American Evans Kurui positioned themselves in the lead group, which numbered roughly 25 athletes at the 2k mark.
At the halfway point, Kurui was in seventh with Kipchoge, the Texas Tech transfer three spots behind, as part of a group of twenty-two.
The group whittled down to six by the 6k mark, as eventual winner Habtom Samuel of New Mexico worked his way to the front with Kipchoge in third, and Kurui in tenth, four seconds behind the leaders.
Samuel broke away to take the victory in 22:58, with Kipchoge second in 23:06. Kurui rallied over the final 2k to finish fifth in 23:27.
Josphat Meli, who got as high as 15th during the race, finished 28th in 23:45, followed by Vincent Koech in 93rd in 24:25, and Kutoven Stevens the fifth runner in 102nd in 24:32 for the number 21 Cougars, who were sixth with 228 points.
Gonzaga finished 18th with 495 points. led by Logan Law's team best time of 23:56 to take the 45th overall spot. He was followed by Bryce Cerkowniak, who finished 70th in 24:08.
Will Thorsett was 101st in 24:31, followed by Ryan Mitchell in 128th in 24:41, and Samy Anderson in 158th in 25:02.
It was a rough outing for the University of Washington, which finished 28th with 698 points.
The Huskies' top finisher was Nathan Neil in 61st on 24:03, followed by Jamar Distel in 118th in 24:37, and Isaac Briggs in 137th in 24:46.
Parker Mong was 190th in 25:30, and Thomas Diamond rounded out Washington's five in 212th in 26:13.
Arkansas transfer Reuben Reina, and touted freshman Josiah Tostenson both did not finish.
Number 3 ranked New Mexico captured the team title with 51 points, followed by number 5 Colorado's 150 points and number 11 Syracuse's 152.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Wisconsin, Washington, Washington State, and Gonzaga contributed to this report.
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