Oct. 10, 2012
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Wisconsin adidas Invitational
Oct. 12, 10 a.m. PT | Madison, Wisc. | 6,000m & 8,000m
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SEATTLE - The cross country season already approaches the midway point this weekend, with the Huskies heading to Madison, Wisc. for their final race before the championship portion of the schedule. After racing in different time zones two weeks ago, the men and women are back on the same flight headed for the Wiscsonsin adidas Invitational, held this Friday at the Zimmer Championships Course.
The third-ranked Husky women’s team is the defending champion at Wisconsin. The Dawgs were surprise winners last year after coming in ranked 24th and knocking off seventeen ranked squads to get the victory in the massive field. This year’s race will be the largest all year once again with 49 total women’s teams. There are 20 of the 30 ranked teams on hand, and along with the Huskies, top-10 teams include No. 2 Arizona, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Cornell and No. 10 Michigan State. The 6,000-meter women’s race goes off at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
The men’s race follows at 10:40 a.m. Pacific, with 46 total men’s squads, giving the Washington men a great opportunity to earn some postseason points by running well and scoring a few upsets. There are 19 ranked teams slated to compete in the men’s 8,000-meter run, led by six top-10 teams: No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 Iona, No.5 Portland, No. 8 Stanford and No. 10 Syracuse.
Leading the women will be junior Katie Flood, who was seventh a year ago despite it being her first race of the season. Lindsay Flanagan and Justine Johnson were both top-25 finishers a year ago and are back for another go. Senior Kayla Evans, junior Liberty Miller, and freshman Maddie Meyers will make the trip, with the only newcomer to the travel group from two weeks ago being sophomore Joelle Amaral, who last ran at the Sundodger. The Huskies ran a full squad for the first time two weeks ago in Louisville, taking second in a very strong field behind Arizona.
The men will take ten runners, nearly all of who ran at the Dellinger Invitaitonal at Oregon two weeks back. The lone newcomer is sophomore Aaron Nelson, who had a great Sundodger race but then sat out the Oregon trip. Senior Joey Bywater is coming off a top-10 finish in Oregon and was 46th at this race a year ago. Nelson, Gareth Gilna, Rob Webster Jr., and Michael Miller all ran the Zimmer course a year ago as well and will look to use that experience to their advantage.
