Tyler King — even his hair looks fast.
Tyler King was the key.
Well, one of them, as the University of Washington mens’ cross country team stacked together a string of runners Friday to grab enough points to pull off a surprising eighth-place finish at the illustrious Wisconsin adidas Invitational.
Running on the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, the Huskies, currently ranked #25 in the nation, grabbed their first-ever top ten team finish at the event, upending ten teams currently ranked ahead of them.
Washington benefited from All-American senior Aaron Nelson claiming third in the field of 254 runners, but the strength of its overall showing came from a pack of runners who finished right on top of each other.
That group, which included Coupeville grad King (65th overall, 4th best among UW runners in 24 minutes, 25 seconds), pulled in enough points for U-Dub to upset #11 Michigan, #12 BYU, #13 Providence, #16 New Mexico, #17 Arkansas, #18 Florida State, #19 Eastern Kentucky, #20 Oklahoma, #23 Indiana and #24 Princeton.
Syracuse, ranked seventh in the nation, held off #14 Iona for the team title, followed by #9 Wisconsin, #5 Portland and #7 Stanford.
Maxim Korolev of Stanford (23:43) won the individual race, with Nelson hitting the tape eight seconds behind him.
King, a redshirt junior, and his Husky teammates will have two weeks of practice before starting their postseason run at the Pac-12 Championships Oct. 31 in Oakland.
Coupeville Sports 