Elite women's field to compete at Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational

Elite women's field to compete at Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational

October 12, 2016 | Women's Cross Country

Top teams and individuals in the country to race in Madison

MADISON, Wis. - The Badgers will host the eighth-annual Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational Presented by Under Armour at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Friday.

Named the top meet of 2016 by FloTrack, the meet will feature 31 men's and women's teams, most of which are ranked in the top 30 by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Coaches' Poll.

"It's been called the biggest and best meet of the year," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "We were able to bring together many of the best teams and individuals to the meet. I think a lot of the individuals are going to be main players in the NCAA meet come November.

"We also have representation of every single region in the country. That is important when you put a field like this together for the 13 at-large teams that are going to be picked at the end of the season. So there's a lot of points on the table."

The meet will kick off with the "B" races this year. The women's six-kilometer race begins at 11 a.m. and will be followed by the men's eight-kilometer at 11:40 a.m. The championship races will conclude the meet, beginning with the women's six-kilometer at 12:30 p.m. The final race of the day is the men's eight-kilometer championship race at 1:20 p.m.

The meet will be streamed live by FloTrack and admission is free for the invite. Parking information is available here.

THE WISCONSIN WOMEN
The Wisconsin women enter the race seeking to prove they can compete with the best runners in the nation. Redshirt freshman Amy Davis and senior Michele Lee look to lead the Badgers after they opened the season with impressive showings at their first two meets.

At the Oz Memorial Invitational, Davis finished second for the Badgers and fifth overall in her first official meet for Wisconsin. Lee kicked off her senior season with the team's third-best finish, placing seventh overall.

At the Badger Classic, the duo helped secure a team victory by crossing the line together to finish first and second as Lee earned her first career victory.

With veterans Shaelyn Sorensen and Sarah Disanza out for the meet, Wisconsin will rely on a mix of veterans and newcomers to pace the team. Senior Sarah Heinemann and juniors Colette Richter, Lianna Mack, and Jamie Shannon all have a lot of race experience and know how to run against elite competition. In addition, true freshmen Alicia Monson and Emma Langer made their colligate debuts at the Badger Classic and will experience their first big test of the season.

OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH FOR
Competing alongside the Wisconsin women will be 17 of the nation's top-30 teams, including five of the top-10 teams in the country.

"This year's field is as good as it's ever been; five of the top ten on the women's side, 11 of the top 20," Byrne said. "Do we have an incredible field? Absolutely. There's going to be a lot of fireworks this week."

"Last year, New Mexico took down the field in impressive fashion by scoring a record low 32 points," FloTrack Producer Gordon Mack said. "This year, can the Providence Friars show the same dominance? Or will Washington and NC State give the Friars a run for their money?"

Leading the way is No. 1 Providence. The Friars finished fourth at the NCAA Championships and fifth at the Wisconsin Invitational a year ago. They are also fresh off a team victory at the Notre Dame Invitational. Ray Treacy's team also features three All-Americans.

Sarah Mary Collins, a graduate student from Switzerland, leads Providence with three All-American cross country honors. She has also earned BIG EAST athlete of the week honors twice this season, along with being the reigning BIG EAST Conference champion. Ranked 22nd in the country according to FloTrack's 2016 Saucony Flo50 Women's Individual XC Rankings, Collins most recently put up a ninth-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational. This weekend she will look to improve on her eighth place finish last year at the Wisconsin Invitational.

The Friars will also count on two-time cross country All-American Catarina Rocha and graduate student transfer Samantha Jones. Jones looks to make her mark for Princeton after earning All-American honors in 2015 at Wake Forest.

No. 3 North Carolina State finished fourth at the Wisconsin Invite last year before finishing fifth at the NCAA Championship. NC State comes to Madison with a lot of confidence and momentum after finishing second at the Notre Dame Invitational. Led by senior Erika Kemp and redshirt sophomore Rachel Coon, this is a team that you may not notice out on the course but they always put up good numbers on the score sheet.

Coming in as the fourth-ranked team in the nation, Washington's well rounded roster returns four of their five scorers from a 10th-place showing at the NCAA Championship in 2015. It marked the Huskies sixth top-ten finish in the last ten years. Pacing the Huskies are No. 8 Charlotte Prouse, No. 19 Amy-Eloise Neale and junior Katie Knight. Prouse looks to continue her spectacular sophomore season that started by winning two of the Huskies' three home meets.

Sixth-ranked Michigan State looks to prove they have a championship-caliber team. The Spartans feature two All-Americans in Alexia Wiersma and Rachele Schulist, along with freshman Holly Bullough, who was Michigan State's top runner at the Roy Griak Invitational.

No. 10 Boise State rounds out the top-10 teams that will be competing at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. The Broncos squad includes the top-two individuals of Saucony's Flo50 rankings, sophomores Allie Ostrander and Brenna Peloquin.

Ostrander, the top-ranked individual in the field, won the 2015 Wisconsin Invitational in 19 minutes and 19.5 seconds before finishing runner-up at the NCAA championships. Ostrander has not raced during the 2016 season.

"It is still an unknown if Allie Ostrander will open her season this weekend," Mack noted. "If she runs, it will be great to see her go for a repeat performance of last year. If she doesn't toe the starting line, we will get to see the NCAA favorite start to take shape as Roy Griak champ Brenna Peloquin, Notre Dame Invite champ Anna Rohrer, and UW Invite champ Charlotte Prouse face-off."

No. 2 Peloquin also finished 2015 with All-American honors with a ninth place finish at the NCAA championships. This year she is the lead runner for the Friars and has had a dominant start to the 2016 season, winning the Roy Griak Invitational and earning Mountain West Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors.

No. 11 New Mexico, the reigning NCAA champions, look to repeat as champions of the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational. Joe Franklin's team features two All-Americans and Flo50 individuals. No. 5 Alice Wright finished fifth at the 2015 NCAA championships, leading her team to the national title. She also was runner-up at this year's Notre Dame Invitational. No. 16 Calli Thackery was also a key contributor in 2015, finishing second for New Mexico at the NCAA championships and earning All-America honors.

OTHER TOP INDIVIDUALS
Four more Saucony Flo50 individuals to watch at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational will be No. 4 Anna Rohrer, No. 15 Maggie Montoya, No. 20 Courtney Smith and No. 21 Angel Piccirillo.

A sophomore for Notre Dame, Rohrer looks to follow up a commanding freshman season. In 2015, Rohrer became an All-American by finishing sixth at the NCAA championships. This year at the Notre Dame Invitational she won the individual title. Look for her blue and gold singlet at the front of the pack on Friday.

Montoya, a senior from Baylor leads her team with two All-South Central Region honors. Most recently, Montoya was recognized as the Big 12 Runner of the Week after a fourth-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational.

Smith, who competes for Harvard is asserting herself as one of the nation's top runners during her junior season. Last season she earned All-Northeast Region honors for her fifth place finish.

Villanova's Piccirillo will also be a runner to watch out for. Piccirillo is a two-time All-Mid-Atlantic Region award winner and earned BIG EAST Cross Country Athlete of the Week honors this season after winning the Paul Short Run.