The Wisconsin men’s cross country team placed ninth overall at the 2026 Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 10, while the women’s team struggled and placed 33rd.
With the men’s 8K featuring 21 of the 30 ranked teams in the country — including No.1 New Mexico, No. 6 Colorado and No 7. BYU — it was bound to be an exciting race.
The Wisconsin men entered the meet ranked 12th in the nation, and were able to put up a solid performance against top ranked competition, running as a pack throughout the race, with no more than a five second spread between their top five runners through the first 6K.
The top three Wisconsin men finished in back-to-back-to-back spots, with Junior Archie Noakes (23:31.1), Freshman Grady Lenn (23:31.1) and Senior Johnny Livingstone (23:31.8), crossing the line in 53rd, 54th and 55th. The men’s team was rounded out by Senior Micah Wilson who ran a time of 23:39.1 for 68th place, and Junior Liam Newhart in 24:5 seconds in 126th place.
In an exciting finish, Colorado Freshman Meshack Kirputo won the men’s race with a time of 22:30. He outkicked three other runners to win the race by less than a second, breaking the course record on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course and leading Colorado to a second place finish.
The New Mexico men dominated the meet, putting all of their scoring runners in the top 25, scoring 59 points to Colorado’s 93.
For the women’s 6K, the Wisconsin women were led by Freshman Ememrson Drobac, who crossed 114th in a time of 20 minutes, 58 seconds. The rest of the scorers were Sophomore Sara Mlodik (21:18), Freshman Ella Anshutz (21:28) and Juniors Mikaela Helling (21:32) and Zaira Malloy Salgado (21:34), who finished 163rd, 175th, 177th and 181st, respectively.
The women’s race featured 17 of the top 30 ranked teams in the nation.
Florida Junior Judy Chepkoech won the women’s individual title with a time of 19 minutes and 19.5 seconds, edging out Iowa State Sophomore Betty Kipkore by just a tenth of a second. Chepkoech ran the second fastest time in history on the course, leading Florida to a second place team finish.
Ninth ranked West Virginia took home the team title, also putting their scorers inside the top 25, scoring 66 points in a dominant victory.
Wisconsin cross country will kick off their postseason schedule at the Big Ten Championships at Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course on Oct. 30. The men will look to contend for the Big Ten crown and the women will look to bounce back on their home course.
The men will look to return to the top of the Big Ten after finishing third in 2025, following eight straight titles. Senior Matan Ivri will make his season debut for the Badgers at the meet, giving a big boost on the men’s side entering the postseason. The women finished sixth at the meet last year, and will need strong performances from Drobac and Mlodik to improve on last year’s finish.
