VERONA, WISCONSIN, October 14 — In a perfect setup for a dramatic and competitive NCAA women’s meet 5 weeks from now, NC State and New Mexico showed why they came in ranked 1-2, tying at 80 points in the 13th running of the Nuttycombe Invitational.
NC State took the official win off its 1-2-18-23-36 placings, bettering the Lobos’ 8-9-12-25-26 sticks using NCAA tiebreaker rules.
Katelyn Tuohy could very well replicate her win here five weeks hence. The NC State soph, who won the track 5K last spring and has been living up to her high school hype and then some, continued to show her dominance.
She broke away from the lead pack around 5K and then cruised to the win in 19:44.3 over junior teammate Kelsey Chmiel (19:49.4), although it really wasn’t as close as those times may indicate. Even on cruise control, Tuohy’s time was the eighth-fastest for the course.
The rest of today’s top 5 included Northern Arizona soph Elise Sterns (19:57.5), Oregon State junior Kaylee Mitchell (20:00.5) and Colorado junior Bailey Hertenstein (20:02.7). New Mexico’s push began with Samree Dishon and Gracelyn Larkin in 8th and 9th, followed by third runner Amelia Mazza-Downie in 12th. Its fourth and fifth counters were Elise Thorner in 25th and Emma Heckel in 26th.
NC State’s third runner was Samantha Bush in 18th, followed by Sydney Seymour in 23rd and Nevada Moreno in 36th.
Twenty-three ranked teams toed the line and they didn’t disappoint in a loaded field that will be eclipsed for “star power” only at the NCAA meet. All except two of the top 22 finishing teams (in the 36-team field) here were ranked. That #4 Northern Arizona (244), #5 BYU (252) and #10 Notre Dame (257) were all more than 160 points in arrears of NC State and New Mexico testifies to the strength of the top two. No slouches rounded out the top 10, either, with #11 North Carolina (280), #8 Stanford (285), #12 Utah (303), #7 Colorado (306) and #13 Georgetown (310) following.
Said Tuohy, “I wanted to make a hard push on the hills, with a little more than a K to go, and then I just worked on moving up. Stillwater is going to be really hilly. We’ve been working hard. I’ve practiced doing a bunch of things preparing for the season so hills are part of that.”
There was a humongous early pack, which can make things problematical, but Tuohy was ready. “I was prepared for anything, really,” she said. “I thought if someone made a move, maybe I’d just tuck in behind them, and if not, maybe I’d be the one to make a move. We packed up pretty well at the front, and I remember seeing Sydney [Seymour] and Sam [Bush] lined up next to me so that was really cool.
“Actually, when I was up front, I heard people cheering for Kelsey, and I wondered, ‘Is that my Kelsey?’ Because it was her first race back and I looked back and saw it was her and that was really cool. So that kind of pumped me up to run faster.”
There’s nothing different on her training agenda as teams move into the championship part of the season. “Not doing anything different,” she said, “just working hard.”
Tuohy said she’ll be better prepared for whatever the weather might be at nationals after the overcast skies and temps in the 40s in Wisconsin.
“This was our first introduction to racing in the cold,” she said. “I was a little cold the first half of the race. So maybe next time I’ll prepare a little better.”
NUTTYCOMBE WOMEN’S RESULTS
Teams: 1. NC State 80; 2. New Mexico 80; 3. Northern Arizona 244; 4. BYU 252; 5. Notre Dame 257; 6. North Carolina 280; 7. Stanford 285; 8. Utah 303; 9. Colorado 306; 10. Georgetown 310; 11. Oregon 363; 12. Toledo 500; 13. Syracuse 506; 14. Wisconsin 506; 15. Providence 511; 16. Washington 515; 17. Colorado State 518; 18. Michigan State 530; 19. Arkansas 533; 20. Utah Valley 544.
Individuals (6K): 1. **Katelyn Tuohy (NCSt) 19:44.3; 2. *Kelsey Chmiel (NCSt) 19:49.4; 3. **Elise Stearns (NnAz) 19:57.5; 4. *Kaylee Mitchell (OrSt) 20:00.5; 5. *Bailey Hertenstein (Co) 20:02.7; 6. Emily Venters (Ut) 20:02.8; 7. **Maia Ramsden’ (Harv-NZ) 20:04.5; 8. **Samree Dishon (NM) 20:05.9; 9. *Gracelyn Larkin’ (NM-Can) 20:06.0; 10. *Isabel Van Camp (Ar) 20:06.2;
11. Aubrey Frentheway (BYU) 20:06.6; 12. **Amelia Mazza-Downie’ (NM-Aus) 20:08.1; 13. Everlyn Kemboi’ (UtV-Ken) 20:09.2; 14. *Grace Fetherstonhaugh’ (OrSt-Can) 20:10.9; 15. McKenna Lee (BYU) 20:11.6; 16. **Zofia Dudek’ (Stan-Pol) 20:11.9; 17. *Olivia Markezich (NDm) 20:11.9; 18. *Samantha Bush (NCSt) 20:11.9; 19. **Brynn Brown (NC) 20:13.9; 20. **Lindsey Peters (AF) 20:15.9;
21. **Halle Hamilton (AF) 20:16.2; 22. **Simone Plourde’ (Ut-Can) 20:16.3; 23. Sydney Seymour (NCSt) 20:17.8; 24. Izzy Thornton-Bott’ (Or-Aus) 20:18.0; 25. **Elise Thorner’ (NM-GB) 20:18.0; 26. **Emma Heckel’ (NM-Ger) 20:18.4; 27. **Kelsey Harrington (NC) 20:19.5; 28. **Amina Maatoug (Duke) 20:20.3; 29. **Emily Covert (Co) 20:20.5; 30. **Bethany Graham (Furm) 20:20.8;
31. **Savannah Roark (Syr) 20:21.7; 32. **Laura Pellicoro’ (Port-Ita) 20:23.2; 33. *Maggie Donahue (Gtn) 20:23.5; 34. *Abigail Loveys (Prin) 20:23.8; 35. **Joy Chirchir’ (Tol-Ken) 20:24.5; 36. Nevada Mareno (NCSt) 20:25.3; 37. *Katie Osika (MiSt) 20:25.7; 38. ***Jane Buckley (Prov) 20:25.9; 39. Anna Gibson (Wa) 20:26.4; 40. *Annika Reiss (NnAz) 20:27.1;
41. Grace Jensen (Gtn) 20:28.0; 42. Abbe Goldstein (NM) 20:28.5; 43. *Sarah Schmitt (In) 20:28.7; 44. **Yasmin Marghini (Boise) 20:29.1; 45. *Mariah Howlett (NCSt) 20:29.4; 46. Katie Thronson (NDm) 20:30.1; 47. *Ella Baran (Co) 20:31.7; 48. **Gionna Quarzo (NCSt) 20:31.8; 49. Keelah Barger (Ut) 20:32.0; 50. **Taryn Parks (NC) 20:32.4.
