MADISON, Wisc. — Stanford cross country wrapped up regular season competition on Friday as the Cardinal placed in the top-half in both the men’s and women’s championship races at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational. Stanford’s women’s side earned eighth overall while the men claimed 16th in a field of the nation’s top programs.
Sophia Kennedy took the top honors for the Cardinal on the women’s side as the junior earned a time of 19:48.8 in her season debut. Kennedy, who increased her position through each of the 2000m segments, made her way from 16th to seventh overall, earning her fastest 2000m split in the final stretch to grab a top-10 finish for Stanford.
Having had a successful start to her collegiate career, Hanne Thomsen continued her torrid pace for Stanford, grabbing 35th overall in a field of the nation’s best. Thomsen held strong throughout the 6K run, moving up five positions in the final 2000m stretch and finishing with a time of 20:30.2 which is the second fastest of her young career. Following Thomsen, Mena Scatchard made her Cardinal debut at “The Nutty”, placing 56th overall with a time of 20:43.7 in her first race since suiting up for Princeton at the NCAA DI Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June.
The final scoring harriers for the Cardinal included Riley Stewart and Julia Flynn, who nabbed 75th and 77th, respectively. Stewart increased her final position from 93rd two-third’s of the way through the course to 75th at the finish, courtesy of a 15-second negative split in the final 2000m. Flynn, meanwhile, did well to hold her pace through a majority of the race, slotting in 77th with an average split of 7:08.5.
Hillary Studdert, Maya De Brouwer and Ava Parekh also ran well for the Cardinal serving as the reserve scores. The Cardinal trio finished nearly 40 seconds apart, placing in the top-200 at 147, 179 and 197 overall, respectively. In the women’s open race, Juliette Whittaker made her season debut running a 21:55.8 which placed 26th overall while freshman Olivia Cieslak nabbed 74th with a time of 23:26.4 in her Cardinal debut.
Closing out the afternoon, the Cardinal men showed well in the 8K Championship with Leo Young leading the quintet of scoring harriers. Young, who ended his run with a 5:56.9 split, bounced from the top-60 and into a top-35 position in the final 2000m finishing with a time of 23:48.6 which slotted him 32nd overall.
Finishing in close order, James Dargan and Evan Noonan placed 92nd and 99th, respectively to round out the top three Cardinal finishers. Dargan, who made his season debut, earned a time of 24:23.9 while Noonan nabbed a time of 24:26.6 to place inside the top-100 in one of the nation’s top collegiate fields.
Byron Grevious and Josh Bell were the final scoring harriers for the Cardinal, placing 110th and 114th overall as the two finished within two seconds of each other. Grevious moved a total of 24 places during the run to secure points for Stanford while Bell also moved throughout the race, finishing 114th overall after slotting in at 138th through 2000m.
Elsewhere, Quinn White, Milo Skapinsky and Toby Chippendale ran well for Stanford. All three Stanford harriers made moves during the run moving up 24 spots each. White moved inside the top-200 after the first 2000m checkpoint while Skapinsky had a strong back half of the race to place 215th overall. Chippendale fought through the crowd the entire run, increasing his position at every checkpoint with a finish of 221st overall.
Stanford is back in action at the end of the month as it heads to E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Ky., for this year’s Atlantic Coast Conference Cross Country Championships.
Nuttycombe Invitational
At Thomas Zimmer Championship Course
Women (6K, 3.73 miles)
Team leaders - 1, NC State 41; 2, Notre Dame 125; 3, Iowa State 176; 8, Stanford 250
Individuals - 1, Grace Hartman (NC State) 19:30.1; 7, Sophia Kennedy (Stanford) 19:48.8; 35, Hanne Thomsen (Stanford) 20:30.2; 56, Mena Scatchard (Stanford) 20:43.7; 75, Riley Stewart 20:56.6; 77, Julia Flynn (Stanford) 20:56.9; 147, Hillary Studdert (Stanford) 21:39.4; 179, Maya De Brouwer (Stanford) 22:01.6; 197, Ava Parekh (Stanford) 22:20.0
Men (8K, 4.97 miles)
Team leaders - 1, NC State 51; 2, Colorado 149; 3, Syracuse 152; 16, Stanford 443
Individuals - 1, Habtom Samuel (New Mexico) 22:58.0; 32, Leo Young (Stanford) 23:48.6; 92, James Dargan (Stanford) 24:23.9; 99, Evan Noonan (Stanford) 24:26.6; 110, Byron Grevious (Stanford) 24:33.6; 114, Josh Bell (Stanford) 24:34.8; 185, Quinn White (Stanford) 25:20.8; 215, Milo Skapinsky (Stanford) 26:15.8; 221, Toby Chippendale (Stanford) 26:28.0
Men’s Open
Stanford did not compete
Women’s Open
Stanford - 26, Juliette Whittaker 21:55.8; 74, Olivia Cieslak 23:26.4