Dawgs, Cougs and Zags check out Nuttycombe cross country course...
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| WSU's Millie Bii (left) and Nelly Jemeli check out the Zimmer Championship in advance of Friday's Nuttycombe Invitational (Paul Merca photo) |
VERONA, Wisconsin--On a picture perfect fall morning and afternoon, the nationally ranked Washington Huskies and Washington State Cougars, along with unranked Gonzaga, were out surveying the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in advance of Friday's Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational, traditionally one of the biggest NCAA Division I meets of the regular season
In the latest USTFCCCA poll, the Washington men are ranked number 13, while Washington State checks in at number 17.
Washington State's women go into the Nuttycombe at number 17, while the Washington Huskies go into Friday ranked number 23.
According to both host Wisconsin and the USTFCCCA, 39 ranked teams (21 men, and 18 women) are in the field for Friday's race.
In contrast, last year's race had 17 of 30 ranked men's teams, and 19 of 30 ranked women's teams.
The top three men's teams in the field are number one New Mexico, number 2 Iowa State, and number 6 Colorado. The women's bracket is headlined by number 3 Northern Arizona, number 4 New Mexico, and number 5 Iowa State, who is coached by former Washington State women's coach Laura Harmon with last year's NCAA 1500 meter champion Rosemary Longisa, who followed Harmon to Ames.
The goal for all three Washington schools are to beat as many ranked schools as possible in order to move up in the national rankings, which are released every Tuesday.
In the case of unranked Gonzaga, the goal is to finish ahead of enough schools to merit a national ranking come Tuesday.
Both media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) and Big Ten+ ($) will stream the meet starting at 8:10 am Pacific with the featured women's A race over 6k at 8:30 am Pacific followed by the men's 8k A race at 9:10 am Pacific.
Washington has teams entered in both the A and B races, with the women's 6k B race starting at 9:50 am Pacific, and the men's 8k B race at 10:30 am Pacific.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and the sports information offices of Wisconsin, Washington, Washington State and Gonzaga contributed to this report.
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