Gibson, Houser Lead New-Look Dawgs In Opener

Saturday, September 24

Stillwater, OK

5:45 AM

University of Washington

Cowboy Jamboree

September 24, 2022 | Cross Country

Men's Results Women's Results

By: UW Athletic Communications

STILLWATER, Okla. – The 2022 season opened up for Washington Cross Country at the crack of dawn this morning in Stillwater, Okla. Eight runners made their official cross country debuts for the Dawgs today, as the teams got a look at the course where they expect to run again in November for nationals.

The Cowboy Jamboree kicked off Washington's season at the Greiner Family OSU Cross Country Course, which is the site of the NCAA Championships in November. Today, the UW men were focused on running together while the women's team held out several veterans, primarily running women who had never raced on the OSU course, including three true freshmen.

The women stepped to the line first at 7:45 a.m. local time. Freshmen Sophia Nordenholz, Chloe Foerster, and Ella Borsheim all had strong first collegiate runs today along with redshirt freshman Kirstie Rae, but it was senior Anna Gibson who led the squad in her first time running in Stillwater.

Mens Pack 2022

Gibson ran the hilly 6,000-meters in 20:46 today. Sophomore Sophie O'Sullivan also had a top-40 finish, placing 37th in 21:09. Then it was Nordenholz in 43rd and Foerster in 52nd getting points for the team in their debuts. Andrea Markezich, the only Husky racing today who had run the course at 2021 spring nationals, was fifth across the line in 79th-place in 21:38. Right behind her was Borsheim in 82nd-place, while Rae finished her first road trip in 159th-place out of a field of 223.

The women finished eighth overall with 217 points, placing ahead of 9th-ranked Arkansas and 12th-ranekd Michigan, 17th-ranked Ole Miss and 20th-ranked Harvard. The Dawgs were also not far off the pace of third-ranked Colorado and fifth-ranked Stanford, which scored 155 and 171 points, respectively. Washington did not run several top returners including Haley Herberg, Madison Heisterman, and Naomi Smith.

"I'm very happy with how we competed today," said Director Maurica Powell on her young women's squad. "We beat a lot of good teams without anything like our full lineup. The women who lined up today ran great and it's a great step in the right direction."

The men's race saw a group of five to six Huskies running together for the majority of the 8,000-meters. Junior Luke Houser, who was the top finisher for the Huskies at the 2021 spring NCAA meet on the same course, made his move and would be the first Husky through in a time of 23:51, good for 26th-place. Senior Isaac Green got a strong start to his cross season as he finished 80th overall in 24:27.

Five more Huskies then finished within a span of 31 seconds, starting with Sam Affolder who was 103rd overall in 24:42. Freshman Evan Jenkins scored in his first collegiate appearance, placing 114th in 24:52. Joe Waskom rounded out the scoring five in a time of 24:58 for 123rd, and redshirt freshman Nathan Green placed 130th in a time of 25:04 in his official cross country debut. New transfer Ed Trippas was 142nd today and fellow Princeton transfer Sam Ellis ran with the pack for half the race as a workout before a planned withdrawal.

In a field full of top-30 teams, the Huskies were 14th overall with 410 points. The Dawgs were ahead of 23rd-ranked Furman and 24th-ranked Ole Miss, and every team that finished ahead of them was ranked in the top-30, and all but two in the top-20.

"Everyone's healthy and we're ready to get a lot better over the next few weeks," said Head Coach Andy Powell. "The guys had great attitudes and it was good to just get back to running together and seeing the course. We'll add Brian Fay and Leo Daschbach to the mix here soon but we know the focus is on November and there's a long way to go to."