CU Women Win Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational

Dani Jones led CU with a fourth place finish.

Photo by: Ken Moreland

September 28, 2018 | Cross Country

Nuttycombe Championships Men's Results Nuttycombe Championships Women's Results Women's B Results

By: Linda Sprouse, Associate SID

MADISON, Wis. — In the first big race of the 2018 season, the second-ranked University of Colorado women's cross country team did not disappoint as they won the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational against an impressive field on Friday afternoon at Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.

Colorado recorded an 11-point victory over No. 5 Boise State (80-91) and a 50-point win over top-ranked New Mexico (80-130) despite the Lobos placing three in the top 10.

"This is the first serious race we've been in; I think the women were careful and controlled bearing in mind that there's seven weeks to go, so we were happy with their outcome," head coach Mark Wetmore said.

The seventh-ranked CU men did not fare as well as the women, placing eighth with 278 points. The two-time reigning NCAA Champion Northern Arizona took home the title with 46 points, defeating the runner-up, Wisconsin (135), by 89 points.

WOMEN'S RACE:
Colorado's women ran an impressive race, improving steadily through the course. After the 2-kilometer mark, the Buffs were eighth in the team race with four harriers running between 35^th and 41^st. Sage Hurta led CU at 35^th with Dani Jones just behind at 36^th. Tabor Scholl and Makena Morley were just behind those two as all four ran a 6:44 split.

At the 2k mark, several moves were made by CU as the Buffs jumped up from eighth to second, just 10 points behind Boise State (99-109). The biggest move came from Morley as she cruised up to eighth from 41^st. Jones also moved up significantly from 36^th to ninth, while Hurta jumped into the top-20.

The Buffs continued to move up and at the finish, four were in the top 20. Jones was fourth, crossing the line in 19:39.6, while Morley also had a top-10 finish as she clocked in at 19:45.2 for sixth place. Hurta moved up from 20^th to 13^th in the final 2k, clocking a total time of 20:00.5. Scholl finished 19^th overall for CU in 20:08.0. The final scorer for the Buffs was Tayler Tuttle, who placed 38^th in 20:32.5.

CU's other two harriers in the race were Val Constien and Holly Bent. Constien finished just two spots behind Tuttle in 40^th (20:35.6) and Bent was 79^th overall (21:02.5). Wisconsin's Alicia Monson won the individual crown, finishing in 19:33.3.

"We knew the front three were good," Wetmore said. "Tabor and Val were both a little bit ahead of where I thought they would be and Tayler Tuttle was quite a bit ahead of where I thought she would be. They managed the course well and made good decisions and we'll be back to use that information and see if we can take another little step."

The Buffs also had four athletes compete in the women's 'B' race prior to the championship races. Mackenzie Caldwell led CU with a sixth-place finish (21:17.0), while Baylee Jones and Lindsey Koch finished 14^th and 15^th, respectively. Karina Mann was the other racer for the Buffs and finished 27^th overall.

The women's team will likely move up in the rankings this week after soundly knocking off the No. 1 UNM Lobos. UNM has been notorious for holding out runners in the past in the early stages of the season, but according to Wetmore, "They ran all of the runners they have that we know of, but their team changes quite a bit from year to year, and they may have some people up their sleeve that we haven't met yet."

MEN'S RACE:
The CU men did not finish how they would have liked, however they did race without one of their top runners, All-American Joe Klecker, who according to Wetmore was "a little banged up."

"He's our number one runner most likely," Wetmore said. "In all of our training and in most of our races last year; but we were not able to use him, so we were operating with the rest of the team and that probably made a 100 points or maybe a little more difference in our score."

The Buffs might have been down a man without Klecker, but returned another All-American, John Dressel, to the line-up after he was forced to redshirt the 2017 season due to injury.

"John missed all of last year and the last time he was in good shape with nothing wrong with him was 18 months ago," Wetmore said. "So this was a good return for him and we're very pleased with that."

Dressel led the Buffs with an 11th-place finish, clocking in at 23:35.1. He showed steady improvement during the race, working up from 56^th at the 2k mark, to 23^rd halfway through. Dressel then jumped up to 16^th at 6k before finishing fourth.

The Buffs second finisher was Eduardo Herrera, another All-American, who finished 18^th (23:39.9). CU also had a strong showing from Ryan Forsyth, clocking in third for CU at 23:51.7, which was good for 34^th.

CU's other two scorers were Ethan Gonzales and Paxton Smith. Gonzales placed 84^th overall and Smith was 140^th. Gus Newcomb also ran for the Buffs and finished 188^th.

"Ethan (Gonzales) did well for us," Wetmore said. "Ethan has taken a nice step in the last nine or 10 months, so he can be a practical fifth man for us. We need to get Joe healthy and get the rest of the guys a little less rusty and we can be a pretty good team."

Wisconsin's Morgan McDonald won the meet in 23:17.6.

UP NEXT: The Buffs have several harriers in Stanford, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational, on Saturday, Sept. 29. The women's 6k race will start at 10:50 a.m. MT and the men's 8k race follows at 11:30 a.m. MT.

2018 Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
Madison, Wis. (Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course)

Women's Championship Race (6k)
Team Results (Top 10 of 33)
1. Colorado 80; 2. Boise State 91; 3. New Mexico 130; 4. Villanova 156; 5. Arkansas 173; 6. Wisconsin 192; 7. Indiana 208; 8. Michigan State 268; 9. Iowa State 276; 10. North Carolina State 283

Individual Results (Top 10 Individuals)
1. Alicia Monson, Wisconsin, 19:33.3; 2. Weini Kelati, New Mexico, 19:35.9; 3. Ednah Kurgat, New Mexico, 19:38.8; 4. Dani Jones, Colorado, 19:39.6; 5. Allie Ostrander, Boise State, 19:40.4; 6. Makena Morley, Colorado, 19:45.2; 7. Charlotte Prouse, New Mexico, 19:55.0; 8. Katrina Robinson, Arkansas, 19:55.3; 9. Emily Venters, Boise State, 19:58.4; 10. Clare O'Brien, Boise State, 19:58.4.

Individual Results (CU Athletes Only)
13. Sage Hurta, 20:00.5; 19. Tabor Scholl, 20:08.0; 38. Tayler Tuttle, 20:32.5; 40. Val Constien, 20:35.6; 79. Holly Bent, 21:02.5

Women's 'B' Race (6k)
Individual Results (Top 10 Individuals)
1. Sophie Eckel, New Mexico, 20:58.8; 2. Katie Thronson, Tennessee, 21:01.9; 3. Bella Burda, Villanova, 21:04.3; 4. Megan Murray, Tennessee, 21:07.1; 5. Lindsey Rudden, Michigan State, 21:10.3; 6. Mackenzie Caldwell, Colorado, 21:16.7; 7. Carlyn Arteaga, Michigan State, 21:17.9; 8. Sarah Kettel, Michigan State, 21:21.0; 9. Mackenzie Weiler, Michigan State, 21:22.6; 10. Micah Huckabee, Arkansas, 21:24.4.

Individual Results (CU Athletes Only)
14. Baylee Jones, 21:29.2; 15. Lindsey Koch, 21:29.3; Karina Mann, 21:44.7

Men's Championship Race (8k)
Team Results (Top 10 of 33)
1. Northern Arizona 46; 2. Wisconsin 135; 3. Portland 140; 4. Iowa State 152; 6. Colorado State 253; 7. Air Force 267; 8. Colorado 278; 9. Purdue 317; 10. Southern Utah 332.

Individual Results (Top 10 Individuals)
1. Morgan McDonald, Wisconsin, 23:17.6; 2. Edwin Kurgat, Iowas State, 23:18.5; 3. Tyler Day, Northern Arizona, 23:21.3; 4. James Sugira, Eastern Kentucky, 23:22.3; 5. Luis Grijalva, Northern Arizona, 23:23.8; 6. Nick Hauger, Portland, 23:24.4; 7. Peter Lomong, Northern Arizona, 23:26.8; 8. Blaise Ferro, Northern Arizona, 23:29.0; 9. Cole Rockhold, Colorado State, 23:29.6; 10. Alfred Chelanga, Alabama, 23:33.8.

Individual Results (CU Athletes Only)
11. John Dressel, 23:35.1; 18. Eduardo Herrera, 23:39.9; 34. Ryan Forsyth, 23:51.7; 84. Ethan Gonzales, 24:22.1; 140. Paxton Smith, 24:45.3; 188. Gus Newcomb, 25:19.0