Is The Nuttycombe Invitational The True NCAA Preview Meet?

“From a coaching standpoint we’re trying to figure out how to make it to nationals and turn it from a foreign environment into a more comfortable one. Well, to do that, we have to find races like nationals and from a competition standpoint there’s just nothing like this meet.” ~ Northern Arizona Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Michael Smith

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational which will be held at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin.

Each year it has been stacked beyond measure and 2018 is no different.

Nineteen of the top-30 teams in the NCAA Division I Men’s National Coaches’ Poll and 15 of the top-30 teams on the women’s side will compete today in Madison. That includes seven of the top-10 men’s programs and seven of the top-10 women’s programs.

With recent trends it’s easy to see why the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational has arguably turned into the best predictor of future success at the NCAA Championships – taking over the throne formerly owned by the Pre-National Invitational.

Between 2003 and 2008, Colorado’s men and the women from Stanford and Washington won both the Pre-National Invitational and the NCAA title that same year. The Buffs did so in 2004 and 2006, while the Cardinal nabbed both in 2003, 2005 and 2007 with the Huskies following suit in 2008.

But ever since the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational came around in 2009 and teams had a choice to either go to the Badger State or the Pre-National Invitational eventual champions have turned to the friendly confines of the Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.

Four men’s teams that won in Wisconsin eventually won the national title (Wisconsin in 2011 and the last three men’s winners in Syracuse in 2015 and Northern Arizona in 2016 and 2017), compared to just two from the Pre-National Invitational (Colorado in 2013 and 2014). There have been three women’s programs to accomplish the double (Michigan State in 2014 and New Mexico in both 2015 and 2017), compared to none at the Pre-National Invitational.

Moreover, since 2013, seven of the past 10 team champions on the men’s and women’s side have either won or raced at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, with the women of Providence (2013) joining the championship mix despite not winning in Wisconsin. Also more than half of the teams who have claimed Nuttycombe titles have gone on to finish in the top-two at the NCAAs.

So what turned the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational into a true NCAA preview?

Joe Franklin and Michael Smith have an idea. Franklin is the head track & field and cross country coach at New Mexico and Smith is the Director of Cross Country and Track & Field at Northern Arizona. Franklin and Smith, whose teams are defending champions at both this meet and at NCAAs, annually bring their squads more than 1,300 miles to compete in Madison.

“The quality of the meet is the closest you will find to the NCAA Championships,” Franklin told the USTFCCCA. “The meet is so competitive that a team cannot be successful there and not be a quality team. The meet does not allow for a false sense how good a team is.”

Smith agreed with Franklin’s sentiment and added that it gives coaches an opportunity to put their athletes in championship-like situations.

“From a coaching standpoint we’re trying to figure out how to make it to nationals and turn it from a foreign environment into a more comfortable one,” Smith told the USTFCCCA. “Well to do that we have to find races like nationals and from a competition standpoint there’s just nothing like this meet.”

“This year it happens to be on the same course as nationals but even if the course wasn’t the same the feel is the same as NCAAs here every year."