SEATTLE – In the third year of the Washington Invitational, the Huskies picked up their first team title, and it came in emphatic fashion as sophomore Charlotte Prouse led the 12th-ranked UW women to a big win over a field that included the fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks. With a few light drops of rain but mostly calm conditions at Jefferson Park Golf Course, Prouse got the individual win and the Husky women put six runners in the top-nine.
In the men's race, third-ranked Oregon was strong and picked up the win led by three-time NCAA cross country champion Edward Cheserek, while 29th-ranked Colorado State took second and the Huskies finishing third, led by a fifth-place finish from junior All-American Colby Gilbert.
But the women should be moving up in the national polls now with a second straight win, after cruising at the Sundodger Invite two weeks ago, and enjoying another good display of depth.
Prouse, who crossed the line first at the Sundodger running right alongside Katie Knight, was intent on setting the tempo today, as she had opened up a 10-meter lead before the first turn on the first loop of the course. Running past the 4,000-meter mark with a big lead of about 100-meters, Prouse was still smiling at the fans cheering her into the final loop. Oregon's Katie Rainsberger made a lot run to close the gap, but Prouse still coasted to the win in 19:36 over the 6,000-meters, six seconds ahead of Rainsberger.
Amy-Eloise Neale kicked hard to win a head-to-head race for third against Harvard's Courtney Smith, Neale finishing in 19:47. Knight was fifth overall for the Dawgs, and then freshman Kaitlyn Neal was seventh in 20:11. Close behind to clinch the win was another freshman, Nikki Zielinski, in eighth-place, and junior Anna Maxwell was right next to Zielinski in ninth, both clocking 20:19 times. Neal and Zielinski were in uniform for the first time today after competing unattached at the Sundodger.
Three more Huskies came through in the top-25, led by senior Kaylee Flanagan in 17th-place in 20:33, then sophomore Emily Hamlin in 19th in 20:37, and sophomore Izzi Batt-Doyle in 22nd-place in 20:41.
"Our women are deep and they ran well and were competitive," said Head Coach Greg Metcalf. "It's October 1st, so the goal was just to go get a little test. It wasn't a miraculous performance by any stretch, it was just good, solid running against a very good Oregon Duck team. It's a big win for Charlotte, to run that fast on this course is awesome. Amy-Eloise Neale had the best cross country performance of her career, Katie Knight another solid performance, Kaitlyn Neal and Nikki Zielinski were fantastic freshmen today. Top to bottom, one to ten, it was a really solid effort."
The Dawgs scored a scant 24 points for the win, with Oregon second with 57, then Harvard with 78, Colorado State fourth with 115, Idaho with 146, Washington State in sixth with 174, and Eastern Washington seventh with 178. Grand Canyon and Seattle U. rounded out the field in eighth- and ninth-places. Charlotte Prouse running ahead of the pack at today's Washington Invite.
In the men's 8,000-meter race, the Huskies went out very strong, and halfway through the race, the Huskies had five near the lead, joined by five Ducks, and a trio of Colorado State runners. Gilbert, Cheserek, and CSU's Jerrell Mock broke away and traded leads for a couple kilometers. But over the final 2k loop, Cheserek made a break and nobody would catch him. He would win in 23:06.
Gilbert wound up fifth, just four seconds out of second-place, in 23:29. Johnathan Stevens, making his season debut, was strong from start to finish for the Dawgs today in eighth-place in a time of 23:37.
Juniors Andrew Gardner and Fred Huxham finished 15th and 16th in 23:49 for Gardner and 23:57 for Huxham, who was also racing for the first time after training through the Sundodger. Sophomore Mahmoud Moussa stepped up with a good run to take 20th and cap the Husky point total. Senior Blake Nelson was the No. 6 finisher in 24th-place, and redshirt freshman Julius Diehr finished 29th in 24:33.
Oregon edged the Rams, 26 to 39, with the Huskies third with 64 points, followed by Washington State in fourth with 127 and Idaho in fifth with 141. Eastern Washington, Seattle, and Grand Canyon went sixth through eighth.
"Our men ran well. I think if you look at our results compared to last year, it's as good or better of a performance," said Metcalf. "We didn't have Colby here a year ago, he ran 23:29 and that was faster than Izaic Yorks ran here a year ago. Johnny Stevens that was the most complete race he's ever run. A couple guys weren't at 100 percent today but Fred Huxham that was a good first run for him today, and Mahmoud and Blake were aggressive and ran well for us. Julius Diehr had his best race. So we'll keep getting a little better, and the men's game is about being ready to run 10,000-meters twice in November and we are headed in that direction."
It's now on to Wisconsin for the Huskies and the huge fields of the Wisconsin Invitational, where much of the groundwork will be laid for the NCAA Championships qualifying. The race in Madison will be Friday, Oct. 14.
