USTFCCCA News & Notes
QUICK RECAP: Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
Northern Arizona Men Affirms Their No. 1 Rank; Knight Crushes the Field Late
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Having not run its full “A” squad prior to today’s Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, there were questions surrounding national No. 1 Northern Arizona – especially considering the Lumberjacks didn’t qualify to the NCAA Championships a year ago.
Saturday provided answers for nearly all of them.
Led by individual runner-up Futsum Zienasellassie, the Lumberjacks scored 78 points to win the regular season’s most competitive meet. No. 11 Stanford answered questions of its own with a runner-up finish at 115 points, followed by No. 3 BYU (144), defending national champion No. 2 Syracuse (165) and No. 8 Iona (239).
Zienasellassie finished behind only individual winner Justyn Knight of Syracuse, who threw down a devastating kick on the final straight to chase down NC State’s Sam Parsons and finish in 23:52.6 on the 8K course.
Morgan McDonald of Wisconsin, Grant Fisher of Stanford, Parsons and Sean McGorty were all also part of that suspenseful dash down the final straightaway.
The Lumberjacks took control at the 6K mark and never looked back. Zienasellassie was joined in the top-10 by eighth-place Matthew Baxter, and followed shortly thereafter by 17th-place Tyler Day and 20th-place Cory Glines. Frosh Geordie Beamish was 31st to round out the Lumberjacks’ scoring lineup.
(NAU also got a third-place finish from Nathan Weitz in the open race).
Stanford finally debuted its own “A” squad with Grant Fisher and Sean McGorty finishing fourth and sixth, respectively. Garrett Sweatt (32nd), Jack Keelan (35th) and Sam Wharton (41st) rounded out the Cardinal lineup.
BYU followed up its upset of Syracuse at Virginia earlier this season with a third-place finish here today. The Cougars moved up from a distant sixth halfway through the race to fourth at 6K, led by ninth-place Nicolas Montanez.
Syracuse got the individual win from Knight, with Colin Bennie finishing 14th for the Orange. Cuse put four runners in the top 40 – including Joel Hubbard, who didn’t finish at Virginia – but Iliass Aouani was only 86th to weight down their hopes of finishing higher in the standings.
No. 8 Iona rounded out the top five with two runners in the top 12.
Perhaps no team made a bigger impression than No. 27 UCLA, which finished sixth. The Bruins entered today as the 18th-highest ranked team in the field.
No. 4 Washington Women Dethrone No. 1 Providence; Peloquin Strikes Again
MADISON, Wis. — Take heed, nation: Washington is here to say.
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That’s the message the fourth-ranked Huskies delivered loud and clear on Friday afternoon during the Women’s Championship Race at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
Two weeks after rolling to a team title at its own invitational over Oregon, Washington cruised to a win in the largest meet of the 2016 regular season. The Huskies scored 124 points to top a loaded field, stacked with 17 other teams that were ranked in the most recent NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll.
No. 3 NC State finished 42 points behind Washington and top-ranked Providence took third with 170. Rounding out the top-5 in the team standings were 11th-ranked New Mexico (207) and 21st-ranked Baylor (228).
For the second consecutive meet, the Huskies were led by Amy-Eloise Neal and Charlotte Prouse. Neal was the first runner from Washington across the finish line in fourth at 20:05.7, while Prouse finished fifth in 20:08.5.
The individual race ultimately came down to Boise State’s Brenna Peloquin, Notre Dame’s Anna Rohrer and New Mexico’s Alice Wright. That trio broke away with 800 meters to go and it was just a matter of time until one of them won.
Peloquin tried to pull away earlier, just like she did a few weeks ago at the Roy Griak Invitational, but unlike Michigan’s Erin Finn, Rohrer and Wright were up to the task. Rohrer actually took the lead, yet a surge from Peloquin and Wright dropped her to third as Peloquin and Wright pulled away down the stretch.
Ultimately it would be Peloquin nabbing another major victory as she crossed the finish line in 20:00.8, one second ahead of Wright. Rohrer took third in 20:03.4.
Harvard’s Courtney Smith finished sixth behind the aforementioned Neal and Prouse, while NC State’s Erika Kemp was seventh. Boston College’s Isabelle Kennedy was eight, New Mexico’s Calli Thackery ninth and San Francisco’s Charlotte Taylor 10th.
Only the Huskies and Lady Lobos had two runners inside the top-10 and when the former packed up at 34 (Kailyn Neal) and 36 (Kaylee Flanagan), victory was as good as theirs.
NC State looked strong as well with Kemp leading the way. The Wolfpack added Ryen Frazier (96th) into the mix, but saw runners who had experience this season under their belt, like Rachel Koon (18th), Alyssa Rudawsky (24th) and Megan Moye (46) fare better.
Top-ranked Providence once again ran without Samantha Jones and Catraina Rocha. Sarah Collins kept up with the lead pack early, but faded. Collins eventually finished 16th and was followed by Katie Lembo in 27th and Brianna Ilarda in 37th.