University of Washington
UW-Seattle U. Open
Cross Country Cruises In UW-SU Open
September 02, 2015 | Cross Country
SEATTLE - The Huskies broke out the stopwatches for the first time this season and Head Coach Greg Metcalf was pleased by when they were stopped today at Magnuson Park, as the UW cross country squads ran strong at the UW-Seattle U. Open.
Also today, the USTFCCCA posted its first national rankings of the season, with both Husky squads appearing in the top-20. The UW women's team, with six of seven returners from the NCAA Championships last year, come in at No. 15 in the first rankings. The Husky men start this season right where they finished last year, at No. 20.
But those rankings were little in the minds of the runners as many got to run in uniform for the first time this fall and test their fitness around the 1.5-mile Magnuson loop. Given a specific race plan and pace, the meet is more about tempo for many of the Huskies, and Coach Metcalf felt that the Huskies in large part met or exceeded the standards.
The women ran three miles, with a trio of freshmen taking leave of a pack of five returners to win crossing the line together. Freshman Emily Hamlin, on her birthday no less, got credit with the win in 16:42, a split second ahead of freshmen Charlotte Prouse and Lindsey Bradley. A few seconds back was a pack of sophomore Katie Knight, sophomore Anna Maxwell, senior Eleanor Fulton, sophmore Kelly Lawson, and senior Maddie Meyers. Just a few more seconds separated Jenna Sanders in ninth-place, and Kaylee Flanagan, in tenth.
"This is the first time we really get out there and hold the stopwatch," said Metcalf. "We haven't really done anything that's measured yet. Our three youngsters, Emily, Charlotte, and Lindsey, they stuck their noses in it and looked controlle, but I think that's the best group of 14 people we've had here. That was 14 people running better than a year ago, so I think the women looked great and it went as prescribed."
The men went an extra loop for 4.5 miles, with Andrew Gardner opening up some room on the rest of the pack to get the win in 22:09. Freshman Andrew Snyder was second, then a group of six Dawgs crossed within a second of each other led by last year's Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Colby Gilbert in fifth in 22:18. Alongside Gilbert was sophomore Fred Huxham, sophomore Johnathan Stevens, redshirt freshman Mahmoud Moussa, senior Izaic Yorks, and senior All-American Tyler King.
"The men were a little more spread out than the women, but our pack of returners--Izaic, Fred, Tyler, Colby, Johnny, Mahmoud--they all crossed together and looked good," said Metcalf. "Andrew, it's always fun to win a cross country race, but for this group the plan is to be at our best and firing on all cylinders not on September 1st but in November in Louisville."
Washington will set off for camp on the coast next week before returning to race at Lincoln Park in West Seattle on Sept. 19 for the annual Sundodger Invitational.
