VERONA, WISCONSIN, September 27 — After altitude training earlier in the month, Washington returned to sea level for its first foray into Big 10 country as one of the conference’s new members. It was a notable success as Maurica Powell’s fifth-ranked women scored 110 points for a 29-point margin on former Pac-12 rival Utah (139) in the Nuttycombe Invitational.
Villanova junior Sadie Sigfstead, a Canadian and avowed cold-weather aficionado, bided her time in the 70-plus (22 C) temperatures and let the race come to her. It turned out to be a perfect strategy and a huge confidence-builder as she surged past her early co-leader Rosina Machu of Gonzaga in the final kilometer for a convincing 19:55.7 win over the 6K Zimmer course.
Fast-closing Florence Caron of Penn State caught Machu for 2nd, 20:03 to 20:06, with Columbia’s Phoebe Anderson (20:11) and Providence’s Kimberly May (20:12) filling out the top 5. The top finishers were in the hunt throughout the race as a few others ebbed and flowed into and out of contention. At 2K, Machu, Sigfstead and Caron were 1-2-3 with the leader at 6:26, 3 ticks up on Sigfstead. At 4K, they were still 1-2 but with a 10-second edge on Caron.
Washington, meanwhile, was moving up methodically in the team battle. Virginia led with 147 points at 2K, with Georgetown, North Carolina, Utah and Washington knotted around 165. But with 2K left, Washington was running 5-16-19-39-41 for 120 points and had a 26-point lead over Utah.
“My coach [Gina Procaccio, now in her 22nd year as Nova head] knows me best and we have a great connection,” said Sigfstead. “She knows I’m an endurance runner and a hard pace from the start is probably going to serve me best. She just tells us to go run. We should be able to trust our race and instincts.
“At this point we do it long enough like you’ll know what to do. I just felt, when one of the girls took it [at] a hard pace, you go with them and see what happens. This is a great race to make decisions and [also] to make a great name for yourself.”
Rest assured, she’s doing that now. After 93rd- and 71st-place finishes in her two NCAA cross appearances and a 12th in the 10K in NCAA track, Sigfstead looks primed to be one of contenders come November.
Noting her confidence in making tactical decisions has come far since her frosh season, Sigfstead said, “I think the hardest thing in this sport is believing in yourself and being confident. The NCAA has gotten to a level where it’s just so competitive that it’s really anyone’s race on the day. If you don’t believe in yourself, you know it’s tough to match up with the best in the nation. I think that’s the main thing.”
And though it was warm here, that didn’t bother the Edmonton, Alberta, native. “Philadelphia is very warm so it’s helped me for that,” she said. “At home, it’s like the coldest place in Canada. That is what I’m most used to. So, hopefully, in November, if it’s snowing I wouldn’t mind that.”
Washington, the top-rated team racing here, was led by junior Maeve Stiles in 9th (20:17.9) and Julia David-Smith in 12th (20:23.3). Amina Maatoug, Chloe Foerster and India Weir closed well and grouped nicely in 27th, 29th and 34th to cement the win over Utah (6-21-25-33-54). Georgetown (145), Providence (160) and Wisconsin (182) rounded out the top 5 in the 25-team field.
Powell’s women took a different approach to the pre-season than in the past, with the later academic start at Washington allowing them to train at altitude for the first time and then train hard throughout the month. It clearly paid off in the late-September warmth, although Powell allowed that they may have been fatigued. Not so tired, though, that they couldn’t run well enough for their first win here in 18 years.
Sigfstead, clearly enthused after her win, may have summed up the sport and the Zimmer finishing stretch as well as anyone, noting that “cross country is like nothing else” and that home straightaways like Wisconsin’s are “so special.”
NUTTYCOMBE WOMEN’S RESULTS
Teams: 1. Washington 110; 2. Utah 139; 3. Georgetown 145; 4. Providence 180; 5. Wisconsin 182; 6. Furman 209; 7. North Carolina 235; 8. Gonzaga 260; 9. Oregon 264; 10. Penn State 273.
Individuals (6K): 1. *Sadie Sigfstead’ (Vill-Can) 19:55.7; 2. *Florence Caron’ (PennSt-Can) 20:03.2; 3. Rosina Machu (Gonz) 20:06.2; 4. Phoebe Anderson’ (Col-GB) 20:11.4; 5. Kimberley May’ (Prov-NZ) 20:12.4; 6. **Erin Vringer’ (Ut-Can) 20:14.2; 7. *Melissa Riggins (Gtn) 20:16.1; 8. *Maeve Stiles (Wa) 20:17.9; 9. *Carly Wilkes (Furm) 20:18.4; 10. Brynn Brown (NC) 20:23.0;
11. *Nicole Vanasse (Vill) 20:23.3; 12. *Julia David-Smith (Wa) 20:24.8; 13. Shannon Flockhart’ (Prov-GB) 20:25.8; 14. Lucy Jenks (Gtn) 20:26.7; 15. Fatima Alanis (NC) 20:29.8; 16. *Maelle Porcher’ (IaSt-Fra) 20:30.0; 17. **Bieke Schipperen’ (FlSt-Neth) 20:30.2; 18. *Mia Barnett (Or) 20:30.7; 19. Alex Millard (Prov) 20:31.1; 20. *Jenny Schilling (Va) 20:33.4;
21. Mckaylie Caesar (Ut) 20:34.7; 22. Savannah Roark (Syr) 20:37.0; 23. **Fleur Templier (Port) 20:37.4; 24. *Kaylie Armitage (Furm) 20:37.6; 25. **Katarzyna Nowakowska’ (Ut-Pol) 20:38.1; 26. **Gillian Bushee (Va) 20:39.1; 27. Amina Maatoug (Wa) 20:39.4; 28. *Kate Laurent (OrSt) 20:39.7; 29. *Chloe Foerster (Wa) 20:40.5; 30. Shea Ruhly (Wi) 20:40.6;
31. Lindsay Cunningham (Wi) 20:41.2; 32. *Charlotte Tomkinson (Gtn) 20:43.4; 33. Morgan Jensen (Ut) 20:45.1; 34. India Weir (Wa) 20:47.2; 35. Wilma Nielsen (Or) 20:47.9; 36. Carolyn Shult (Wi) 20:50.5; 37. **Hayley Kitching’ (PennSt-Aus) 20:50.8; 38. **Annika Cutforth (Wi) 20:51.3; 39. Elizabeth Barlow (FlSt) 20:52.2; 40. **Brooke Wilson (WF) 20:52.7;
41. Sierra Bower (Furm) 20:52.9; 42. Mackenzie Barnett (Lips) 20:53.0; 43. ***Logan Hofstee (Gonz) 20:54.2; 44. **Barrett Justema (Gtn) 20:54.3; 45. **Avril Andre (Il) 20:55.1; 46. *Jenna Mulhern (Furm) 20:55.3; 47. Fiona McLoughlin (Wi) 20:56.2; 48. *Almi Nerurkar (Gtn) 20:56.7; 49. *Eva Klingbeil (NC) 20:56.8; 50. **Harley Kletz (Lips) 20:57.1.
