#6 Utah Cross Country Ready to Roll at Nuttycombe Invitational

Friday, October 18

Madison, Wis.

2:47 PM

University of Utah

Nuttycombe Invitational

#6 Utah Cross Country Ready to Roll at Nuttycombe Invitational

10/16/2019 4:55 PM | Cross Country

2019 Nuttycombe Meet Information Nuttycombe Women's 6k Course Map Nuttycombe Live Results

The Utes look forward to receiving second big test at one of the nations premier collegiate meets.

#6 Utah Cross Country Ready to Roll at Nuttycombe Invitational

Date: Friday, October 18, 2019
Location: Thomas Zimmer Championship Course | Madison, Wis.
Host: University of Wisconsin
Time: 10:00 a.m. (MT)/11:00 a.m. (CT)
Utah Media Guide: 2019 Cross Country Media Guide (PDF)
Cross Country Statistics: 2019 Season Statistics (PDF)

Starting Line
The No. 6-ranked Utah women's cross country team will receive their second big test of the season as they travel to Madison, Wis., to compete at the 11th annual Nuttycombe Invitational. The meet will take place on Friday, Oct. 12, at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course and is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. CT/10:00 a.m. MT with the women's "B" 6k race. Utah will enter two squads with one competing in the "B" race and the other competing in the "A" race, which is slated to begin at 12:20 p.m. CT/11:20 a.m. MT. The Utes will have their hands full as they'll compete against 19 nationally ranked teams including five in the top-10.

Utah Runners

"A" Race
Emma Christensen
Kennedy Powell
Sarah Feeny
Trina Moreno
Poppy Tank
Bella Williams
Cara Woolnough

"B" Race
Karli Branch
Grace Burnett
Anna Busatto
Ellie Lundgreen
Brooke Manson
Sarah Newton
Jade Mulvey

Notable Teams Competing
#21 Air Force
#1 Arkansas
#11 Boise State
#24 Columbia
#T18 Furman
#28 Georgetown
#29 Iowa State
#10 Michigan State
#T18 Minnesota
#27 Northern Arizona
#9 NC State
#T4 New Mexico
#16 Notre Dame
#22 Ohio State
#14 Oregon
#25 Oregon State
#T4 Stanford
#15 Syracuse
#13 Wisconsin (Host)

In the Rankings
After a stellar performance at the Joe Piane Invitational, the Utes have earned the highest ranking in program history coming in at No. 6 in the nation according to the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches' poll. In the Mountain Region, the Utes have climbed into second right behind BYU, who has been on top of the region throughout the season. The second-place rank in the Mountain Region is also a program record. The highly talented Mountain Region contains three teams that rank in the top-five of the nation, being No. 2 BYU, No. 3 Colorado, and No. 4 New Mexico.

Fresh Legs
Sarah Feeny, Poppy Tank, Bella Williams and Cara Woolnough will all be competing in their second races of the season. Last time these four all competed was at the Joe Piane Invitational where Williams led the Utes finishing in 11th to help propel Utah to a historic victory over the former No. 1 team in the nation, Colorado.

Last Time Out
The Utes captured a third-place finish at the Color Country Invitational as they ran more of their developing athletes. True freshman Karli Branch crossed first for the Utes finishing the 4k race in 14:59.45 to earn fourth. Following Branch was Anna Busatto and Jade Mulvey, who finished four places apart from each other in 12th and 16th-place, respectively. Completing the scoring runners for Utah was Sara Leonard (23rd) and Kaitlyn Mercer (24th).

Rounding out the seven entries for Utah was Nicole Griffiths (34th) and Abby Rasmussen (36th), who saw her first collegiate action at the Color Country Invite.

Meet host Southern Utah took home the team title in a slim victory scoring 38 points, edging out Utah Valley (46) . Utah secured third with 68 points while Dixie State (98) just beat out Idaho State (100) in a battle for fourth and fifth-place.

In the Classroom
The Utah cross country program strives for excellence in both athletics and academics and continues to get it done in the classroom. In the fall of 2018, the cross country team was one of seven teams at Utah that finished with cumulative GPA above a 3.5.

Last season, the Utes had nine student-athletes named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team with four of them being named to the first and second team and five being honorable mentions. Sophomore Cara Woolnough earned first-team honors while senior Anna Busatto and juniors Astrid Lindgren and Natalie Platil were tabbed second-team members. Aubrey Argyle, Emma Christensen, Sarah Feeny, Sarah Newton and former Ute Sadie Wassum were named honorable mention.

This marked the second Pac-12 All-Academic honor Feeny has received (2015) and the first time Woolnough, Busatto, Lindgren, Platil, Argyle, Christensen and Newton were awarded cross country all-academic honors in their careers.

Up Next
The Utah cross country team will stay home and host their first meet of the season, the Utah Open, on Friday, Oct. 25. The meet will take place at Sunnyside Park and is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. MT with the women's 5k race.

Podcast
Click below to listen to head coach Kyle Kepler in his weekly cross country podcast. In this edition, coach Kepler gives his thoughts on the Color Country Invitational along with a preview of the Nuttycombe Invitational.

Fans can follow the Utah cross country program on Twitter (@Utah_trackfield), Facebook (UtahTrackXC) and on Instagram (@UtahTrackXC).