The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Wisconsin Invitational
Cross Country ready for Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
09.26.2018 | Track & Field / Cross Country
The Longhorns will run for the first time since Sept. 7 when they travel to the site of the 2018 NCAA Championships on Friday.
AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas will resume its racing schedule on Friday morning when both the men's and women's cross country programs take on the field at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison. The race will be held on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course, the site of the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
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Both the men and women will race seven in the championship races. The women's 6k begins at 12:20 p.m. CT while the men's 8k begins at 1 p.m. CT. The women's 6k B race starts at 11 a.m. and the men's 8k B race begins at 11:40 a.m. The meet will be streamed live on FloTrack.
"We are excited to head to Madison and race on the course where the NCAA Championships will take place in seven weeks," women's cross country coach PattiSue Plumer said. "We've worked hard in training during the last three weeks since we last raced, so I'm looking forward to watching the women put their hard work towards a race Friday afternoon."
The Longhorn women have been led by junior Destiny Collins and senior Alex Cruz in the early portion of the season. UT won the Texas Invitational to begin the season and then followed it up with a victory at the Rice Invitational the following week. Collins paced Texas at the Texas Invitational, running a 12:58.20 4k, while Cruz finished second. The following week at Rice, Collins again led the pack with a time of 13:35.00, earning Big 12 Conference Runner of the Week honors. UT is ranked No. 2 in the South Central Region and is receiving votes in the national polls by the USTFCCCA.
"Friday's race will be the first opportunity for our top group of runners to race this season, so I'm excited to see their training pay off for the first time in a race setting," men's cross country coach Pete Watson said. "We've worked hard in training and used the first two meets to give some of our younger runners an opportunity to show what they have. It will be good experience to run in Madison as we work towards making it back in November."
On the men's side, the Longhorns have focused on training early in the season. Of the eight men traveling to the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational for Friday's meet, just Jake Johnson and Pedro Nasta have competed thus far. Nasta paced the Longhorns in winning the Texas Invitational while Johnson paced the men at the Rice Invitational. Garek Bielaczyc, Dan Golden, Charles Mills, John Rice, Alex Rogers and Sam Worley will all make their season debuts. UT is ranked No. 2 in the South Central Region and 30th in the country by the USTFCCCA.
A select group from the Longhorn women's team not traveling to Wisconsin will compete in the Concordia Invitational on Saturday morning beginning at 9 a.m. The women's race will be a 6k and the meet will take place at Walter E. Long Park in Austin.
Players Mentioned
