Washington men surprise field at John McNichols Invitational on NCAA XC champs course...
The Huskies, who did not qualify for the NCAA cross country championships in 2025 and lost former B1G Ten 10000m champ Evan Jenkins, who transferred to Oregon, finished third at the season-opening John McNichols Invitational at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
Washington beat twelve teams ranked in the USTFCCCA Division I pre-season poll on the course that will host the NCAA championship meet in November.
The Dawgs, who scored 190 points, were led by Tyrone Gorze's (Paul Merca file photo) 13th place finish over the 8k course, where he ran 24:01, followed by Josiah Tostenson's 41st place finish in 24:25.
Washington packed three other runners inside the top 50, with Nathan Neil 43rd in 24:26, Jamar Distel in 44th in the same time, and Isaac Briggs in 49th in 24:30. The Dawgs' 1-5 split was 29 seconds.
Number 11 ranked Washington State finished fifth with 212 points, despite the efforts of All-Americans Evans Kurui and Solomon Kipchoge, who finished fourth and fifth in 23:38 and 23:48.
Kutoven Stevens was WSU's third runner across the line in 28th in 24:18, followed by Kade Brownell in 68th in 24:38. Evan Bruce closed out their scorers in 107th in 25:04. The Cougs' 1-5 split was 1:26.
Kelvin Cheruiyot of Florida was the individual winner in 23:21. Number 9 BYU won the team title with 71 points, followed by number 21 Florida's 119 points, then UW at 190, followed by number 27 Stanford's 205, then number 11 WSU's 212 points.
In the women's 6k race, number 21 Washington State finished third with 121 points, led by Millie Bii, who finished sixth in 19:57.
Nelly Jemeli was 18th in 20:29, followed by Caroline Jepkorir in 25th in 20:44. Lauren Hoyt followed in 35th in 20:54, and Mercy Biwott closed out the Cougars scorers in 37th in 20:55.
Number 22 Washington, who finished sixth with 176 points, was led by freshman Abigail Hennessy in 29th place in 20:49.
Behind her were WSU transfer Nicole Bissell in 33rd in 20:50, Elena Aldrink in 36th in 20:55, Josephine Welin in 38th in 20:57, and Sherry Drury in 29th in the same time.
Washington's 1-5 split was a remarkable 8 seconds.
Other than Bissell, Welin and Columbia transfer Rory Clare, all of the runners the Huskies put on the line were true freshmen, as the Huskies sat out Julia David-Smith, Mia Cochran, and Louisa Esmouni.
Brighter Jepchumba of Eastern Kentucky took the win in 19:14, while number 8 Northern Arizona won the team title with 61 points, followed by number 20 Utah's 107 and WSU's third place finish with 121.
Washington has a short turnaround, as the Dawgs will race next Friday in Chicago at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational.
After the Huskies race in Chicago, both UW and WSU will race in Madison, Wisconsin at the Nuttycombe Invitational on October 9th.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, former Husky Sam Tanner of New Zealand finished twelfth in the road mile at the World Athletics Road Running Championships on the streets of the Danish capital.
Tanner ran 3:56.01, as German's Robert Farken won in 3:51.80.
Max Davies of the Brooks Beasts, running for Canada, finished 43rd in 4:08.56.
In the women's 5k race, former Seattle resident Allie Ostrander of the USA, who races for Seattle based Giselle, finished twelfth in 15:10.
Likina Amebaw of Ethiopia won in 14:41.
Washington alum Brian Fay of Ireland finished 38th in the men's 5k race, crossing the line in 13:48.
In a bit of an upset, Dawit Seare of Eritrea won the race, holding off World Ultimate champion and reigning Olympic 5000 meter champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, running 12:56 to Ingebrigtsen's 12:59.
The World Athletics Road Running Championships conclude Sunday with the half marathon, as Washington alum Jack Rowe of Great Britain, and former Brooks Beast Jessica McClain of the USA will race.
NOTE: World Athletics, and the sports information offices of 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 or the blue icon on the lower right hand side.
Comments