Ole Miss women’s cross country held their own against a national-caliber field, beating out 10 ranked teams en route to a strong 12th-place finish at the high-powered Nuttycombe Invitational, hosted by the University of Wisconsin on a wet and windy Friday morning.
The 22nd-ranked Rebels battled the elements effectively and came out with a crucial 12th-place team finish that will help bolster Ole Miss’ chances of making the national field come season’s end. Ole Miss finished behind 11 other ranked schools and was ahead of 10 more, including two top-10 schools in No. 8 Washington and No. 10 Colorado. It was a tight team battle for spots 11 through 13, with No. 13 Iowa State finishing 11th at 381 points, just one ahead of the 12th-place Rebels and two ahead of the 13th-place Huskies.
Ole Miss’ team success was driven by a tight scoring spread of just 49.1 seconds, and that was in spite of fraught conditions, with temperatures topped out in the mid-50s, high winds and heavy rain throughout the race. Senior Ryann Helmers led the Rebel pack in 28th place, running 20:31.8 across those difficult six kilometers.
Four more Rebels would break into the top-100 in seniors Loral Winn (62nd, 20:50.3), Kristel van den Berg (78th, 20:55.6) and Skylar Boogerd (93rd, 20:59.2), with sophomore Sarah Schiffmann rounding out the scoring in 125th place at 21:20.9.
Other Rebel women in competition were junior Hannah Ielfield (146th, 21:31.3), junior Madison Hulsey (224th, 22:26.4) and senior Jocelyn Long (239th, 22:43.6).
The Rebel men were without two major contributors in the 8K race, missing star seniors Cole Bullock and Cruz Gomez, but were once again led by junior Jack Meijer, who posted a top-30 finish back on familiar stomping grounds at Wisconsin. Meijer was 30th at an 8K time of 23:57.9 amid the tough conditions, his third consecutive sub-24 time in the 8K as a Rebel.
Other Rebel men running on Friday morning were junior Aiden Britt (161st, 24:46.6), sophomore Toby Gillen (175th, 24:50.0), sophomore Gabe Scales (255th, 25:50.9) and junior Chase Rose (273rd, 26:37.5).
With the regular season now in the rearview, Ole Miss will take next week off to prepare for the 2023 SEC Cross Country Championships, which will be hosted by South Carolina on Fri., Oct. 27.
Women’s Championship 6K Team Scores
1. #2 Northern Arizona – 52
2. #1 NC State – 95
3. #11 Georgetown – 208
4. #5 Stanford – 227
5. #9 Florida – 262
6. #4 Notre Dame – 292
7. #30 Oregon State – 315
8. #12 Cal Baptist – 322
9. #14 Michigan State – 342
10. #29 Lipscomb – 363
11. #13 Iowa State – 381
12. #22 Ole Miss – 382
13. #8 Washington – 383
14. #10 Colorado – 395
15. #20 Utah – 419
16. #23 Wisconsin – 421
17. #28 Colorado State – 437
18. #18 Furman – 438
19. (RV) Harvard – 454
20. #25 Syracuse – 480
21. (RV) Duke – 508
22. #21 North Carolina – 510
23. (RV) Portland – 528
24. #14 Providence – 536
25. #26 New Mexico – 580
8 others
Women’s 6K Individual Results
28. Ryann Helmers – 20:31.8
62. Loral Winn – 20:50.3
78. Kristel van den Berg – 20:55.6
93. Skylar Boogerd – 20:59.2
125. Sarah Schiffmann – 21:20.9
146. Hannah Ielfield – 21:31.3
224. Madison Hulsey – 22:26.4
239. Jocelyn Long – 22:43.6
Men’s 8K Individual Results
30. Jack Meijer – 23:57.9
161. Aiden Britt – 24:46.6
175. Toby Gillen – 24:50.0
255. Gabe Scales – 25:50.9
273. Chase Rose – 26:37.5
DNF Cruz Gomez
