The Nuttycombe Invitational tends to be one of the most important meets of the year, every year, as teams begin to establish themselves as NCAA Regional favorites. On that same token, Nuttycombe serves as an opportunity for teams to test themselves and their underclassmen with championship caliber racing.

The 2025 Nuttycombe Invitational is slated for tomorrow, October 17, and it will feature a slew of ranked teams on the men's and women's sides. Here is all you need to know as we head to Wisconsin.

• 2025 College XC Rankings Presented By HOKA: Division I
• 2025 Lewis Crossover Recap
• Workout Wednesday: New Mexico Ahead of Nuttycombe

Nuttycombe Women's 6k Championship - 12:50 PM ET

With many of the top teams on the women's side slated to compete at Nuttycombe tomorrow, we will finally see some aces finally begin to open their season up; some of whom are either starting the season late due to summer competitions (World Championships, European Championships, USA Championships, etc.) or were supposedly out due to injury.

We will finally see NC State run a star-studded squad now that Grace Hartman and Angelina Napoleon are looking to open their fall campaign. The Wolfpack are ranked #2 in the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA. Hartman is currently ranked #3 with Napoleon ranked #18, while they will also be joined by Hannah Gapes (#8) and Bethany Michalak (#37).

Other teams to look out for will be Stanford (#5), who will be highlighted by Sophia Kennedy (#10), and New Mexico (#6) led by Pamela Kosgei (#2), who made an appearance at the World Athletic Championships during the summer.

Backtracking to the the Carolinas,  #9 Vera Sjoberg will be making her debut for the Tarheels of North Carolina following a breakout year that consisted of a runner-up finish in the 5000m at the NCAA DI Outdoor Championships, podium finishes at the Swedish Outdoor Championships, and an appearance on the world stage at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo. 

Within the top-15 teams, Northern Arizona (#7), Washington (#10), Georgetown (#11), Gonzaga (#14), and Colorado (#15).

Outside of that, Notre Dame (#18) and Northwestern (#26) could turn a few heads, as they have been putting up tremendous seasons so far. With the Fighting Irish, the women currently remain undefeated so far this season with both A and B squads, while the Wildcats are currently in a position to potentially win the B1G Ten title later this month.

Full Women's Team Entries

• NC State - #2
• Stanford - #5
• New Mexico - #6
• Northern Arizona - #7
• Washington - #10
• Georgetown - #11
• North Carolina - #12
• Gonzaga - #14
• Colorado - #15
• Penn State - #17
• Notre Dame - #18
• Utah - #19
• Iowa State - #22
• West Virginia - #23
• Washington State - #25
• Northwestern - #26
• Michigan State - #27
• Harvard - #28
• Syracuse
• Providence
• Duke
• Tulane
• Minnesota
• Wisconsin
• CBU
• Furman
• Toledo
• Lipscomb
• Indiana
• Iowa State
• Louisville
• Michigan

Nuttycombe Men's 8k Championship - 1:30 PM ET

The men's race will be chock full of ranked teams, with 20 ranked teams slated to take the start-line in Madison. The tricky part about a mid-October meet is that some teams will be showing their cards, while others will hold a few back - potentially leaving us with more questions than answers.

That being said, we are excited to get our first glimpse at the New Mexico squad in it's full force. The Lobos are ranked #2 in the FloTrack College XC Rankings presented by HOKA. This will be the first time in 2025 that we've seen Habtom Samuel on the course. Samuel currently ranks at #1 in our individual rankings and his low stick will be crucial to New Mexico's National Championship hopes.

Right now, we're operating under the assumption that both Iowa State and New Mexico will be running full line-ups, which would lead to our first clash of the top two ranked teams.

Outside of those two teams, Stanford (#6), Colorado (#7) and Notre Dame (#8) will look to knock off the defending NCAA Champs in BYU (#5). Those teams are ranked consecutively. For Stanford, there is still a notable absence in its line-up. Lex Young (#35) has not yet opened his season and he is not in the entries yet again. His absence will serve as a notable blow.

Colorado impressed earlier in the season with a third place finish at the Gans Creek Classic. This will be a prove-it race for the Buffs after they climbed to #7. The team is sporting what appears to be a complete line-up including Dominic Serem who finished fifth at the Gans Creek Classic in September.

We'll also be keeping a watchful eye on Wisconsin (#12), Syracuse (#14), NAU (#16) and UNC (#17).

Individually, a couple of high profile athletes are expected to make their season debuts. We already mentioned Habtom Samuel, but we are also anticipating the debut of Valentin Soca. CBU's Soca was a 2025 World Championship 5K finalist and he is currently ranked #4 in our individual rankings. He'll look to knock off the rust in Madison in his first cross country effort of the season.

Solomon Kipchoge (Washington State), Joash Ruto (Iowa State) and Bernard Cheruiyot (Tulane) are also expected to race, which means we'll have five runners ranked inside the top eight racing in Madison.

Could we see a new number one when the dust settles?

Full Men's Team Entries

• Iowa State (#1) 
• New Mexico (#2)
• BYU (#5)
• Stanford (#6)
• Colorado (#7)
• Notre Dame (#8)
• Wisconsin (#12)
• Syracuse (#14)
• Northern Arizona (#16)
• North Carolina (#17)
• Butler (#18)
• Washington St. (#19)
• CBU (#20)
• Michigan State (#23)
• Tulane (#24)
• Eastern Kentucky (#25)
• Georgetown (#27
•  Utah State (#28)
• Harvard (#29)
• Washington (#32)
• Duke
• Furman
• Gonzaga
• Indiana
• Iona
• Lipscomb
• Louisville
• Michigan
• NC State
• Portland
• Tulsa
• Villanova

The Weather In Madison

Known for it's dreary weather, teams are getting a treat this weekend. Friday's forecast is calling for highs of 75 and partly cloudy conditions. There could be some precipitation on Thursday so the course could be a little soft, but nevertheless, the weather itself should be perfect on race-day.

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