Now that we are a month into the collegiate cross country season and the nine Washington Division I and II schools have a meet under their belts, here's some early thoughts:
DIVISION I
On the men's side, the WASHINGTON HUSKIES (photo courtesy UW Athletics) were a mild surprise after finishing third at the John McNichols Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Washington beat twelve teams ranked in the USTFCCCA Division I pre-season poll on the course that will host the NCAA championship meet in November. Not only that, but the Huskies did so despite losing 2024 B1G Ten 10000m champ Evan Jenkins, as the Camas native transferred to rival Oregon.
Third year runner Tyrone Gorze, who was projected before Jenkins' transfer as the Huskies' number two runner, picked up the slack by placing 13th overall.
More importantly, the pack behind Gorze stepped up, giving the Huskies a 1-5 split of 29 seconds over the 8k course. All of Washington's runners who scored are returnees from last season.
Going into this weekend, the Huskies are ranked number 13 in the most current USTFCCCA D1 coaches' poll.
The Washington women are a bit of a mystery, especially with a large group of newcomers, led by freshman Abigail Hennessy, who was one of the fastest high school standouts in the country last year.
Behind her, she's got world U20 1500m finalists Sherry Drury from Japan and Milla Roberts from Australia, and a whole lotta freshmen.
Transfers Nicole Bissell (Washington State), Rory Clare (Columbia), and Louisa Esmouni (France), along with returning runners Ella Borsheim, Josie Welin, Gioana Lopizzo, and standouts Julia David-Smith and Mia Cochran are the upperclassmen on the current roster.
The Dawgs were sixth at McNichols, but ran a remarkable 1-5 split of 8 seconds, led by Hennessy in 29th place.
WASHINGTON STATE's squads were a known quantity with All Americans Evans Kurui and Solomon Kipchoge leading the charge for the men, and freshman Millie Bii for the women.
While the number 17 ranked Cougs have the big time runners up front, their number 3-through-5 runners remain a concern, especially come NCAA West Regionals time.
Kurui and Kipchoge were fourth and fifth at McNichols, while Kutoven Stevens was 28th.
Kade Brownell was 68th, while Evan Bruce was 107th, as the Cougs ran a 1-5 split just under 90 seconds at 1:26, which won't get the job done when it comes time to qualify for the NCAA championships.
With the departure of NCAA 1500 champ Rosemary Longisa to Iowa State, Bii has established herself quite nicely as the lead Coug, after finishing sixth at McNichols.
Behind Bii, the number 17 Cougs placed four inside the top 40, and ran a 1-5 split of 58 seconds.
GONZAGA's women aren't quite at full strength yet. as the Bulldogs haven't run either of their NCAA cross country champs qualifiers in Logan Hofstee and Jessica Frydenlund.
That said, a pair of freshmen have filled in for Hofstee and Frydenlund quite well so far.
Audrey Orme from Boise, and Sloan Dickson from Lynden have been the Zags' front runners so far, with Orme leading the way at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational, placing 15th and Dickson 22nd.
Despite missing their NCAA championship qualifiers, Gonzaga ran a 1-5 split of 40 seconds to finish sixth overall.
The Bulldogs ran aggressively in the men's 8k race, putting all five scorers in the top 30 at Loyola, but couldn't hold it at the end.
Nonetheless, the Zags were rewarded with a seventh place finish, led by Logan Law's fifth place finish.
Gonzaga put three others inside the top 50, while their fifth runner finished 76th. The Zags finished with a 1-5 split of 53 seconds.
Neither EASTERN WASHINGTON nor SEATTLE UNIVERSITY have run against national caliber competition so far this season, and quite honestly, don't expect them to be in the mix when the regional championships roll around in November in Sacramento.
From the results of the Montana Open and the Saint Mary's Invitational, Eastern's front runners are Sara Sanders on the women's side and Owen Higgins for the men.
Sanders was tenth in the women's 5k race, while Higgins was 22nd in the men's 8k.
SeattleU, which is in rebuilding mode under interim coach Alex Jenkins, was led at the Saint Mary's Invitational by Jeremy Posdon in the men's 8k in 16th place, while Diana Camargo Solis was the Redhawks' top finisher in the women's 6k in 38th place.
Gonzaga and Eastern Washington race this weekend at the Frank Knott Invitational in Spokane Valley, while SeattleU heads to the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, hosted by Willamette University.
The Zags are expected to race their younger runners, while they prep for the Nuttycombe Invitational a week from Friday outside Madison, Wisconsin, where they will see both Washington and Washington State.
DIVISION II
Until proven otherwise, when it comes to cross country in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, it's WESTERN WASHINGTON (Jeff Evans/WWU Athletics photo), then everyone else.
At the Bill Roe Classic last Saturday, the Viking men, ranked number 9 in the USTFCCCA D2 national coaches' poll, won the team title ahead of Canada's Trinity Western by a 31-46 count.
The Vikings were led by Jared Alderfer's second place finish over 8k in 24:08, and placed all five scorers inside the top ten, running a 1-5 split of 43 seconds.
Ella Edens, who was just named the GNAC's Runner of the Week, led the way for the women of Western, running 20:48 for 6k.
Behind Edens, Western placed two others in the top ten, and three more inside the top 15, running a 1-5 split of 1:31.
On the women's side, CENTRAL WASHINGTON is potentially the one team that could give Western a run, especially after their performance at the Bill Roe Invitational.
The Wildcats placed three runners inside the top ten, led by Maddy Harrison's third place finish, followed by Dawn Hulstedt in sixth and Payton Conover in seventh.
If Central is to make a run at Western, they will have to have strong performances from their numbers 4 and 5 runners, who were 15th and 22nd last week.
Central finished the Bill Roe meet with a 1-5 split of 1:40.
The SEATTLE PACIFIC women are a bit of a mystery. On the one hand, they do have some decent pieces with freshman Esther Paulson, along with juniors Anna Prussian, who led the way for the Falcons at the Mike Johnson Invitational last week in Monmouth, Oregon, and Alexa Gossett.
The Falcons finished sixth last week.
The Central and Seattle Pacific men, and both SAINT MARTIN'S squads are in rebuilding mode, and honestly don't figure to contend for a top ten finish at the NCAA west regionals in Sacramento in mid-November.
None of the state's four Division II schools are in action this weekend. Next week, both Western Washington teams and the Central Washington women's squad will next compete at the Lewis Crossover in Romeoville, Illinois, which is one of the country's top Division II invitationals.
Seattle Pacific and Western Washington will have athletes running at the Emerald City Open in Seattle next week.