Final Kick

XC Round-Up

Men’s and women’s HUSKY HARRIERS finish the season sprint to final in fine fashion

BY MARK MOSCHETTI • CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The colors and the seasons change every September. But when leaves are done dropping in November, one thing never seems to change.

When it’s time for the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the University of Washington women’s and men’s teams are packing up for the national meet.

That certainly was no different this autumn as the Huskies earned an opportunity to race in their second cross country nationals in a span of eight months.

They made the most it.

Led by All-American performances from Allie Schadler on the women’s side and Brian Fay on the men’s, both UW teams ran to top-15 finishes at the national gathering on Nov. 20 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.. The women were 11th and the men were 13th – the fifth time in school history both programs reached the top 15 on the biggest racing stage of the season.

It also was a jump for both programs from the 2020 nationals – which actually took place in March 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic. In that race, the women were 13th and the men 25th

Schadler polished off her career by placing 25th, thereby earning her second straight AllAmerican award. Fay, a senior from Ireland racing in his first NCAAs, was 38th.

“It was really a pretty good day,” program director Maurica Powell said of the women’s race in an interview with gohuskies.com. “Even though we were ranked 23rd, we thought we could be top-10, and we came up just short. The attitude and the effort were on point and they kept battling the whole way.”

Head coach Andy Powell was just as pleased with the men’s performance.

“It was a solid effort and a really consistent month of racing for our men, starting with

Senior Kieran Lumb

Pac-12s, then Regionals, and today,” he said. “Brian Fay was great today and showed how talented he is, and I’m excited for his track season. We have a lot of men poised for some great things on the track – those who raced here today and many more beyond these seven.”

Lacing up their racing shoes at NCAAs It has become a most pleasant pre-Thanksgiving habit for the Huskies. Both teams have earned national bids for five straight seasons. The last four of those have been under the direction of the Powells. In fact, this marks the 15th straight season that the UW women have been on the national starting line.

Both teams earned their tickets to Tallahassee by coming with strong outings at the West Regionals on Nov. 12 at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif. Led by West Region men’s champion Kieran Lumb and women’s top-10 placer Schadler, the two teams earned automatic qualifying berths by placing second to Stanford in their respective races.

The regional runs in Sacramento capped a steady climb for the Huskies between mid-October and mid-November.

Both teams have earned national bids for five straight seasons. The last four of those have been under the direction of the Powells.

Washington’s teams had a less-than-stellar day on Oct. 15 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, where the men were 14th out of 31 schools and the women were 15th out of 36. Lumb, a senior who had transferred from the University of British Columbia, made his UW debut and placed 44th. Haley Herberg, a junior and a returning AllAmerican, was 49th in the women’s race.

The Huskies stepped things up considerably by the time of the Pacific-12 Championships on Oct. 29 in Salt Lake City. On that day, Fay was ninth and Lumb was 10th in the 8,000-meter men’s race, as UW was third with 68 points. Herberg moved up four places in the final 2,000 meters of the 6,000-meter women’s race to grab the No. 8 placing, leading UW to fourth in the team standings. Then came that more-than-stellar day at West Regionals in Sacramento.

Lumb moved forward into the pack of leaders late in the race. Coming toward the finish line, it was Lumb, Stanford freshman Charles Hicks, and Oregon senior Cooper Teare kicking for the title. Lumb’s kick turned out to be the best of the speedy bunch, and he came across the finish line of the 10,000-meter race in a course record-setting time of 29 minutes, 28.5 seconds. Then it was Hicks in 29:29.5 and Teare in 29:29.7.

That made Lumb the second Husky in a row to win the men’s regional title. No UW runner had ever won it until Jim Jordan did so in 2019. The 2020 meet was canceled.

Junior Haley Herberg - center

The Huskies had three in the top 20 and all five in the top 25 for 84 points.

Senior Allie Schadler

The Huskies had their first three runners ahead of their respective counterparts from Stanford at the finish line, but the Cardinal had the edge in the Nos. 4 and 5 spots to eke out a five-point victory, 61-66.

“We didn’t get cute with it and we said, ‘Let’s run together,’” Andy Powell told gohuskies.com after the race. “It was a really good team effort and they were all up in the front. They were talking and communicating with each other like a normal practice. I think that energy helped propel Kieran to the win.”

Schadler and Herberg were with the lead pack for a good chunk of the 6,000 meters in the women’s race. In fact, Herberg was the front-runner mile mark (1,600 meters) and at 1 ½ miles (2,400 meters). Schadler was among the top 15 all the way, eventually finishing 10th in 20:12.2. Herberg was right behind in 11th, clocking 20:15.5.

Stanford was well in front of the team race, with four in the top 10 and all five scorers in the top 20 for 42 points. The Huskies had three in the top 20 and all five in the top 25 for 84 points.

“The plan was just to run a really business-like, straightforward race, and they executed really well,” Maurica Powell said.