Inclement weather struck the entire state of Wisconsin this past Friday, but could not quite damper the 14th annual Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin cross country program at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.
Throughout the gloomy morning, a total of 72 teams competed in two separate championship races. Between the men and the women, 45 teams entered Madison with a top-30 ranking.
The UW women’s team entered the week ranked as the No. 23 team in the nation, looking to continue to build momentum off of their third place finish at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational.
It started with the Badgers’ seemingly top emerging runners in 2023: Leané Willemse and Alexa Westley. While each maintained pace with one another throughout the early portion of the event, Willemse pulled away in the end. The in-state native clocked in at 20:36, followed by Westley at 20:53.
Each time put the two competitors in the top half of the pool of finishers, shooting UW up the team standings. The team was able to solidify their position with the help of strong runs from Danielle Orie, Emma Watcke and Vivian Hacker, all of which placed in the top-125.
With that, the Badgers sat near the middle-of-the-pack within the team standings — finishing in 16th place out of 33 programs.
As for the men, UW was down a couple of their top competitors in Bob Liking and Micah Wilson on Friday. Liking was resting in preparation for the Badgers’ upcoming playoff stretch in the next month.
Jackson Sharp emerged as the top finisher for UW by a long stretch, nearly winning the entire 8K race with a time of 23:26, slotting in at 5th. Sharp nearly defeated some of the top runners in the nation, including Ky Robinson of Stanford University and Nico Young of Northern Arizona University.
He was followed by Rowen Ellenberg, who completed his 8K at 24:09, good for 55th place. Depth was tested for the Badgers, as Evan Bishop, Oliver Paleen and Anthony Adriansen rounded out the top-5 scorers.
Unfortunately for UW, they fell to 22nd place at the Nuttycombe Invitational. The race evolved into a quality stepping stone for every runner for the near future — wrapping up the regular season portion of the schedule.
Northern Arizona wound up winning both the women’s and the men’s races, blowing by the competition with ease — maintaining their status as one of the top running programs in the country.
Graham Blanks of Harvard University surprised the field with a first place finish in the men’s 8K, completing the course in a quick 23:23. Finally, Parker Valby was the star out of the University of Florida, running a 19:17 and breaking the record for the fastest recorded 6K in the Nuttycombe Invitational’s 14-year history.
For UW, they continue to train and prepare to host the Big Ten Championships Oct. 27 — marking the first postseason run of potentially three in the upcoming 2023 season.
