SPRINGFIELD, Ore. — Despite the mud, grit and torn-up grass at a wet and cold Western Regional competition on Saturday, the Washington runners shone. The women cruised to an easy defense of their regional title — and their 11th consecutive win — with sophomore Kendra Schaaf grabbing the individual victory. The men managed to secure a solid fourth-place finish, assuring a trip to the national meet one week from today.

The Washington programs did this without Lauren Saylor or Max O’Donoghue-McDonald, stalwart scorers who were held out of competition as a precautionary measure.

The men entered the meet with one goal in mind: to get to the national meet. The top three UW runners, Colton Tully-Doyle, Kelly Spady and Jake Schmitt, ran in a tight pack for the first 6 kilometers of the 10-kilometer race. All three were in the top 20 for the majority of the race, until Schmitt slipped and fell with roughly 200 meters to go.

Schmitt performed a barrel-roll maneuver and rebounded nicely. Still, a number of runners had passed him, and he finished in 30th place. Luckily for the Huskies, one of the runners who had spurted ahead of Schmitt was UW redshirt freshman Joey Bywater.

Bywater, in the first 10k race of his career, ran a tactical and reserved strategy. Over the last 3 kilometers of the race, when one would expect a newcomer to the distance to falter, Bywater began making a long and strong move. He steadily increased his pace and surged from 37th to 23rd place. He credited his coach, Greg Metcalf’s, race plan with a lot of this success. Thanks to a conservative start, Bywater felt he had “a lot of energy saved up for the last 3 kilometers.”

Tully-Doyle, who led the Huskies with an 18th-place finish, also credited his strong performance to conservative race strategy.

“The idea was that I have a bad habit of going out in the front and leading,” Tully-Doyle said. “In the past, I was so confident in my fitness that I thought that I could go out and run in the front. I led the first half of Pac-10s and then died. So Metcalf drew up a plan for the top three guys to all go together. [Assistant coach Jason Drake] told me that if I was anywhere in the top 25 during the first 3 kilometers, he would run out on the field and tackle me.”

Tully-Doyle fluctuated from 20th to 15th throughout the first portion of the race, but Drake didn’t intervene. Instead, he watched as the Huskies finished a strong fourth, losing to three teams ranked in the top 10 nationally.

The scoring five ran a tight, controlled race, with a spread of only 25 seconds. That spread is second only to meet-champion Stanford in that category, whose top 5 runners were separated by only 22 seconds. This bodes well for the Huskies as they prepare for the expanded field at the national meet. Perhaps that’s the root of Tully-Doyle’s confidence.

“I guarantee, I guarantee we’re going to be a top-seven team in the nation,” Tully-Doyle said.

The women enjoyed a similarly tight team performance, as Schaaf was separated from the fifth Husky, Christine Babcock, by only 31 seconds. The women placed all five of their scoring runners in the top 10 at the race. Mel Lawrence and Kailey Campbell ran third and fourth, with Katie Follet in seventh and Babcock in 10th.

All five UW runners ran in the top 10 for the duration of the race, with Schaaf taking the lead and holding it through the first kilometer of the 6k course. And, with Saylor returning to the squad for nationals, the Huskies are heavy favorites to repeat as national champions. This is not to say that the victory is assured: The No. 2 Villanova Wildcats performed dominantly at their regional meet as well. During the Husky team photo shoot after the race, Drake reminded the women of this, chiming in, “Next up, Villanova.”

When O’Donoghue-McDonald and Saylor bolster the ranks of the already impressive squads, the most difficult decision for the coaching staff might be whom to leave behind. Redshirt freshman Kayla Evans ran a very strong race, coming in 30th in the field, and continues to prove her value to the team. True freshman Lindsay Flanagan finished sixth for the Huskies and 27th at the meet.

Kenna Patrick, who did not compete this weekend, has been a solid contributor as well. Allison Linell, another runner who was held from competition over the weekend, has likely earned herself a spot on the travel roster as well. She finished 33rd in the field and fifth for the Huskies at the Pre-National Invitational and was instrumental in the Washington win there. All 10 of these runners have made strong cases for themselves, but Metcalf has previously stated he’ll bring nine runners to the championship meet. Metcalf, who is known as a caring and empathetic coach, might very well renege on this claim and bring all 10 of the women who have helped bring the Huskies to the precipice of greatness once again.

Reach reporter Zachary Gussin at sports@dailyuw.com.