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Cross Country
vs Beehive Invitational
Friday, October 18
Madison, Wis.
2:47 PM
University of Utah
vs
Nuttycombe Invitational
#6 Cross Country Finishes 11th at Nuttycombe Invitational
10/18/2019 4:18 PM | Cross Country
Tank and Williams lead the charge at one of the nations premier meets.
MADISON, Wis. - The No. 6 University of Utah cross country team had a solid showing at the 11th annual Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday placing 11th (309 points) in a field of 36 teams that included 19 nationally ranked squads. Competing in its first 6k of the season, Utah topped eight nationally ranked teams that included Pac-12 foe #14 Oregon, #16 Notre Dame and #T18 Minnesota.
Top-ranked Arkansas, held control throughout the race with four of its five runners finishing inside the top-10 (3-5-7-9-38) to secure the first-place finish with 62 points. Fourth-ranked Stanford placed second with 98 points beating out the third-place team, #9 NC State (203), by 105 points. Host #13 Wisconsin nudged out #10 Michigan State by two points to capture the fourth-place finish.
In a field of 243 competitors, the Utes were led by junior Poppy Tank as she and Bella Williams crossed the finish line together securing 23rd (20:23.8) and 24th (20:24.0), respectively. Sarah Feeny earned 56th in 20:48 while Cara Woolnough (86th, 21:14.0) and Trina Moreno (120th, 21:25.5) completed the scoring runners for Utah.
Williams posted a new personal-record by topping her previous by 35 seconds, which she recorded last season at the Pac-12 Championships.
Emma Christensen (178th, 21:56.9) and Kennedy Powell (220th, 22:27.2) rounded things out for the Utes in the Championship race.
"I thought for the meet we ran we did a great job and we'll certainly take that result knowing we left Scarlet Dale at home as she's feeling under the weather," head coach Kyle Kepler explained. "Our top two, Poppy and Bella, really stepped up finishing 23rd and 24th, which is very impressive to see in this race against this field and really backed up what they did at Notre Dame."
"A" Race Top-11
- #1 Arkansas - 62
- #T4 Stanford - 98
- #9 NC State - 203
- #13 Wisconsin (Host) - 217
- #10 Michigan State - 219
- #27 Northern Arizona - 251
- #11 Boise State - 282
- #21 Air Force - 298
- #T4 New Mexico - 302
- #T18 Furman - 309
- #6 Utah - 309
In the "B" race, true freshman Ellie Lundgreen led the Utes gaining 23 spots in the last 2,000-meters to earn 45th in 22:11.0. Right on her heels was Anna Busatto finishing four-tenths of a second later in 46th. Grace Burnett (22:28.2), Sarah Newton (22:32.7) and Karli Branch (22:49.8) completed the scoring runners for the Utes placing 62nd, 66th and 80th, respectively.
Busatto clocked a new personal-record with her time (22:11.4) beating her previous record, which she set in the same race three seasons ago by just over two minutes.
Also competing in the "B" race was Brooke Manson and Jade Mulvey. Mason finished in 88th (23:04.8) while Mulvey finished one place back in 89th (23:05.8).
As a team, Utah finished in eighth totaling 178 points (26-27-37-39-49). Michigan State took home the team title in deciding fashion scoring 18 points and finished ahead of second-place Minnesota (89) by 71 points while Georgetown (103), Wisconsin (141) and Northern Arizona (143) rounded out the top-5 teams.
"We had a really nice race, a very conservative start, maybe a little too conservative but our kids didn't panic," Kepler said "It was great to see and they knew they had a long ways to run so they gained a bunch of spots after the first 2k. "Overall I thought we ran well. You know with three freshmen out there that have never ran a 6,000-meter race before on a pretty challenging course, I thought they held up really well and did a great job today."
"B" Race Teams
- Michigan State - 18
- Minnesota - 89
- Georgetown - 103
- Wisconsin - 141
- Northern Arizona - 143
- Utah State - 164
- New Mexico - 168
- Utah - 178
- Missouri - 192
- Portland - 229
- Oregon State - 239
The Utah cross country team will be back on the course next Friday, Oct. 25, as they host their first home meet of the season, the Utah Open. The meet will take place at Sunnyside Park in Salt Lake City and will begin at 1 p.m. MT with the women's 5k race.
Fans can follow the Utah cross country program on Twitter (@Utah_trackfield), Facebook (UtahTrackXC) and on Instagram (@UtahTrackXC).
Players Mentioned
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