The NCAA cross country season came to a close in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday, with BYU hoisting the trophies on both the men’s and women’s side. While both Washington Huskies squads were ranked inside the top 15 coming into the meet, the Huskies had to battle through talented fields at the Thomas Zimmerman Championship course, finishing No. 13 on the women’s side and No. 16 on the men’s.
The Huskies women, ranked No. 6 in the country coming into the weekend, were led by Penn transfer Maeve Stiles, who finished 59th overall on the 6 kilometer course. Julia David-Smith finished No. 73, Amina Maatoug was No. 98 after recovering from a poor first kilometer, India Weir finished No. 113, and Sophie O’Sullivan came across in No. 135, finishing the scorecard for Washington.
On the 10 kilometer course for the men’s race, Washington was paced by Nathan Green. The senior, despite a national championship on the track in the mile, was making his NCAA Championship debut in cross country and gained 50 places over the final 2,000 meters to finish in No. 54. Sophomore Tyrone Gorze was No. 84, Evan Jenkins placed No. 103, Leo Daschbach was No. 117, and Ronan McMahon-Staggs finished the scoring with a finish at No. 164.
The meet gave Washington a chance to look at the future of the program, especially on the men’s side. Six of the seven starters for the Huskies’ men had never been to an NCAA Championship before (Daschbach being the lone exception), and four of the seven were either freshmen or sophomores. On the women’s side, five of the seven starters are juniors, including Stiles and Maatoug, who transferred to the program over the summer.
The Huskies will now have a few weeks off before the start of NCAA Indoor Track season in December.