USTFCCCA News & Notes
By Tyler Mayforth, USTFCCCA October 18, 2019   

On The Rise At The Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational

There is always so much parity at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.

This year was no different as the Cross Country Gods played Boggle with 38 of the 40 nationally-ranked programs that competed at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on a beautiful Friday afternoon.

CLICK HERE TO READ OUR RECAP OF THE #NUTTYINVITE
CLICK HERE FOR RESULTS FROM THE #NUTTYINVITE

Wait a second, USTFCCCA. There were 40 nationally-ranked programs at the meet.

You’re right – but the top-ranked men from Northern Arizona and the top-ranked women from Arkansas rolled to their respective team titles. The Lumberjacks won the men’s crown by 74 points, while the Razorbacks bested the women’s field by 36.

Let’s take a look at how the rest of the field fared versus how they were ranked against each other coming into the meet. Sort the tables by clicking each column headers.

How Men’s Ranked Teams Fared Versus Pre-Meet Projection

Entering
Team Name
Expected
Finish
Diff
1
Northern Arizona
1
1
–
2
Stanford
2
2
–
3
Iowa State
3
4
-1
4
Oregon
4
10
-6
5
Portland
5
9
-4
6
NC State
6
DNF
DNF
7
Purdue
7
6
+1
8
Syracuse
8
19
-11
9
Notre Dame
9
15
-6
10
Indiana
10
7
+3
11
Virgina
11
16
-5
12
Michigan
12
11
+1
13
Wisconsin
13
8
+5
14
UCLA
14
5
+9
15
Utah State
15
13
+2
16
Princeton
16
15
-1
17
Eastern Kentucky
17
17
–
18
Boise State
18
12
+6
19
Tulsa
19
3
+16
20
Wyoming
20
18
+2

Nine men’s teams performed better than they were projected to by the most recent National Coaches’ Poll: No. 28 Tulsa, No. 20 UCLA, No. 26 Boise State, No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 15 Indiana, No. 30 Wyoming, No. 22 Utah State, No. 18 Michigan and No. 11 Purdue.

The Hurricane was the biggest gainer of the bunch as it outperformed its pre-meet expectancy by 16 spots. Tulsa entered as the 19th ranked team in the field and ended up finishing third thanks to having all five of its scoring athletes in the top-50, just one of three teams to do so.

The Bruins, led by Robert Brandt‘s sixth-place individual finish, topped their projection by nine spots, while the Broncos and Badgers had six- and five-place gains, respectively.

How Women’s Ranked Teams Fared Versus Pre-Meet Projection

Entering
Team Name
Expected
Finish
Diff
1
Arkansas
1
1
–
2
New Mexico
2
9
-7
2
Stanford
2
2
–
4
Utah
4
11
-7
5
NC State
5
3
+2
6
Michigan State
6
5
+1
7
Boise State
7
7
–
8
Wisconsin
8
4
+4
9
Oregon
9
14
-5
10
Syracuse
10
18
-8
11
Notre Dame
11
12
-1
12
Furman
12
10
+2
13
Minnesota
13
15
-2
14
Air Force
14
8
+6
15
Ohio State
15
13
+2
16
Columbia
16
16
–
17
Oregon State
17
20
-3
18
Northern Arizona
18
6
+12
19
Georgetown
19
17
+2
20
Iowa State
20
19
+1

Nine women’s teams performed better than they were projected to by the most recent National Coaches’ Poll: No. 27 Northern Arizona, No. 21 Air Force, No. 13 Wisconsin, No. 28 Georgetown, No. 22 Ohio State, No. 18 Furman, No. 9 NC State, No. 29 Iowa State and No. 10 Michigan State.

The Lumberjacks were the best of the bunch as they outperformed their pre-meet expectancy by 12 spots. NAU entered as the 18th best team in the field and finished sixth thanks to three runners in the top-50 (Taryn O’Neill led the way in 20th place).

The Falcons bettered its projection by six spots as two of their runners finished in the top-30, while the host Badgers topped theirs by four behind Alicia Monson‘s individual title, her second in as many years at the meet.