Women Fourth In Virginia; Houser Top-10 For Men

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Cross country kicked off this morning at Panorama Farms, the eventual site of the NCAA Championships, as the Huskies battled against elite fields at the Virginia Invitational. The Husky women’s team had a stellar opener, putting five women in the top-40 and finishing fourth overall, while the men got a top-10 finish from Luke Houser plus an impressive debut from freshman Tyrone Gorze.
 
The men’s field featured 14 of the 30 ranked teams in the latest USTFCCCA coaches poll, while the women’s field had 12 of the top-30 racing today as teams got an early season test, hoping to be back on the course on Nov. 18 when it hosts the NCAA Championships.
 
Women’s Race
 
The 13th-ranked Husky women’s squad outran eight ranked squads, placing fourth with 131 points. Second-ranked Northern Arizona won with 48, and No. 9 Stanford and No. 11 Virginia were second and third with 104 and 123 points, respectively. Behind the Huskies were No. 12 Georgetown, No. 26 Iowa State, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 14 Providence, No. 9 Colorado, Syracuse and No. 10 North Carolina.
 
Sophie O’Sullivan, after just finishing her summer track season two weeks ago and having been resting up since, jumped right back into racing the longer distances today. She led the Huskies with a 15th-place finish over the 5,000-meters in 16:40.
 
Just four seconds behind O’Sullivan was sophomore Chloe Foerster in one of several breakout runs for some young Dawgs. Foerster was 18th today in 16:44. Then three more Huskies crossed close together to cap the scoring. Julia David-Smith, in her first race back in uniform since tearing her ACL in the 2022 track season, placed 30th in 16:56. New Dawg India Weir finished 33rd in 16:59, then sophomore Ella Borsheim was a split second back in 35th-place, also in 16:59.
 
UW also had two of the top No. 6 and No. 7 finishers today, as Kosana Weir finished 61st and Tori Herman was 78th in their Husky debuts. According to Coach Powell, Herman only recently began running again in August.
 
Naomi Smith crossed in 89th-place overall in 17:33, and Marlena Preigh was 95th in 17:36. Samantha Friborg finished 163rd overall in the field of 200 runners.
 
Also for the women, Rosalie Fish raced in the mixed open 5k this morning, and she was the top female finisher in 18:15.
 
Men’s Race
 
All-American and NCAA mile Champion Luke Houser led the Husky men’s…