MADISON, Wis. – UW senior Jackson Sharp churned through a torrential downpour at the Zimmer Cross Country Championship course on Friday, finishing fifth overall at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational Presented by Under Armour.
Sharp crossed the 8k course in 23 minutes, 26.4 seconds.
As a team, UW finished 22nd overall at the nation's top meet of the season. Junior Rowen Ellenberg was the second Badger to finish, coming in 55th place at 24:08.8. Senior Evan Bishop was the third Badger – 82nd overall – to cross the line, finishing at 24:17.6. Oliver Paleen (189th), Anthony Adriansen (232nd), Sam Craig (238th), Benjamin Nibbelink (245th) and Joseph dosReis (268th) rounded out Wisconsin's runners.
In the B Race, freshman Liam Newhart ran unattached, finishing 11th overall at 25:21.1. Nick Gilles, Nick Hruskoci and Bryce Stachewicz all ran unattached and finished in the top-100. Pierce Siegne ran unattached as well, placing 114th while unattached freshman Andrew Casey did not finish.
Northern Arizona won the Nuttycombe Invitational team title, finishing with 76 points. BYU, Syracuse, Cal Baptist and Texas finished out the top-five.
Harvard's Graham Blanks dazzled in the rain, surprising a top-heavy field and winning the Nuttycombe individual title with a time of 23:23.4.
Straight from the Course
UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne
"Our finish out there today is the direct result of a decision I made to hold out some of our top guys and I stand by that. When you hold out good athletes, I think you have to live with the result. I'm very comfortable with that. I did it in the best interest of our athletes and moving forward into the championship part of the season. Take Bob Liking for example as Bob was fourth in this event last year and fifth two years ago. I want to give him every opportunity we can to see him perform at the national championships down the road. Jackson Sharp ran fantastic today, netting a top-five finish after not finishing this event last season. We certainly have enough guys to back them up when we need to over the next few weeks."
Jackson Sharp
"The plan going in was to have a crack at a win, I didn't have a great start but was happy with my finish."Obviously we didn't execute exactly what we wanted. But the focus is on Big Tens and beyond, as Mick [Byrne] always says. We host in two weeks and that's going to be sick. And then regionals and nationals, so hopefully, we can get it all together by then."
Up Next:
The Badgers host Big Ten Championships on Oct. 27. Wisconsin will challenge for their sixth-straight Big Ten Championship. Senior Bob Liking will look to capture his third-consecutive Big Ten Title.
Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational Presented by Under Armour
Oct. 13, 2023
Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course
8K Race
Championship Race Results:
5. Jackson Sharp - 23:26.4
55. Rowen Ellenberg - 24:08.8
82. Evan Bishop - 24:17.6
189. Oliver Paleen - 24:57.3
232. Anthony Adriansen - 25:18.0
238. Sam Craig - 25:22.2
245. Benjamin Nibbelink - 25:32.7
268. Joseph dosReis - 26:22.7
B Race Results
11. (UW-UNA) Liam Newhart - 25:21.1
66. (UW-UNA) Nick Gilles - 26:05.2
78. (UW-UNA) Nick Hruskoci - 26:13.7
83. (UW-UNA) Bryce Stachewicz - 26:17.6
114. (UW-UNA) Pierce Siegne - 27:11.5
DNF - (UW-UNA) Andrew Casey - DNF
