Grant Fisher and Sean McGorty join the sprint to the finish. Photos by Aaron Shepley.
MADISON, Wis. – Grant Fisher led a full-strength Stanford men's cross country squad to second at the high-powered Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday, fortifying hope for the postseason.
Fisher was fourth and Sean McGorty sixth in an 8K (4.97-mile) race that brought together 19 of the nation's top 30 teams. Stanford placed five among the top 41 to score 118 points, but it wasn't enough to offset the 78 points of top-ranked Northern Arizona, which had all five scorers ahead of Stanford's No. 3 runner.
However, the Cardinal did beat No. 3 BYU (third with 144), and defending NCAA champion Syracuse, the No. 2-ranked team which was fourth with 167.
"This was a huge step forward for our team," said Chris Miltenberg, Stanford's fifth-year Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field. "This is by far the best we've ever been at this point in the season."
Stanford entered the race with a No. 11 ranking, based on three results without Fisher and McGorty, who were making their season debut. Miltenberg wanted to bring them along slowly after a long season of track that culminated with the Olympic Trials in July.Stanford's Sean McGorty ran among the leaders throughout the race.
Syracuse junior Justyn Knight won on a ferocious kick down the straightaway, finishing the race on the undulating Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in 23:53.1. Northern Arizona's Futsum Zienasellassie was second in 23:55.1 and Wisconsin's Morgan McDonald was third in 23:55.4.
Fisher was the top American-born runner in the field, in 23:55.2. McGorty was close behind, in 23:58.6. Garrett Sweatt led a group of three Cardinal, placing 32nd in 24:25.9, followed by Jack Keelan (35th, 24:27.5) and Sam Wharton (41st, 24:28.9). Stanford's top five finished within 32.7 seconds of each other, while NAU had a 31.1-second difference.
Sweatt battled after falling back mid-race. Though the Cardinal got separated, they drew strength from each other down the stretch.
"That is the critical group right there," Miltenberg said of his Nos. 3-5.
The individual race was viewed largely as a competition among McGorty, Knight, and Zienasellassie, and all immediately bolted into the large lead pack. McGorty spent much of the early going on Zienasellasie's shoulder. Fisher stayed on the fringes and started to assert himself as the pack thinned over the final 3K.
North Carolina State's George Parsons made a big move with about 2K to go, taking a substantial lead. Though Zienasellasie led the chase, Knight whipped around everyone with 100 meters left and won going away, with Parsons dropping to fifth. McGorty's strength may have been sapped a bit at the end from essentially running in the lead, or at least without tucking in and drafting, for so long.
"A lot of it comes not just down to ability, but who can play his next hand in poker," Miltenberg said. "It's the tactical component that's so important."
The result was big for Fisher, a sophomore in his third cross-country meet for Stanford – he was 11th at Pac-12's and 17th at NCAA's last year. This was his first time finishing as the Cardinal's No. 1 runner. However, it was not unexpected, Miltenberg said, given Fisher's NCAA finish last year and his 13:30 speed in a 5K.
"It's a logical progression," Miltenberg said. "If you look at the quality of the top 10 in this race, all you can hope is to be is with that group with 1,000 meters to go and see what happens."
This is the last regular-season meet for the Stanford men, who next race at the Pac-12 Championships in Tucson, Arizona, on Oct. 28.
* * *Complete results
Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational
Men
Team leaders – 1, Northern Arizona 78; 2, Stanford 118; 3, BYU 144; 4, Syracuse 167; 5, Iona 240; 6, UCLA 246; 7, Portland 257.
Individual leaders and Stanford – 1, Justyn Knight (Syracuse) 23:53.1; 2, Futsum Zienasellassie (Northern Arizona) 23:55.1; 3, Morgan McDonald (Wisconsin) 23:55.4; 4, Grant Fisher (Stanford) 23:55.5; 5, George Parsons (North Carolina State) 23:56.5; 6, Sean McGorty (Stanford) 23:58.9; 32, Garrett Sweatt (Stanford) 24:25.9; 35, Jack Keelan (Stanford) 24:27.5; 41, Sam Wharton (Stanford) 24:28.9; 93, Steven Fahy (Stanford) 24:57.4; 140, Will Lauer (Stanford) 25:21.6.
Open Race -- 6, Blair Hurlock (Stanford) 25:05.4.