THE WRAP: Plethora of cross country action as teams finalize squads for championship season...


While Gonzaga, Washington and Washington State traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Friday, there was also action with the state's D1 schools on Saturday, as schools begin the process of finalizing their squads for the start of championship season.

In Estecada, Oregon, Seattle University's women's team (photo courtesy Seattle University Athletics) finished second behind Carleton at the Lewis-Clark Invitational at McIver State Park, by a 81-98 count, with the University of Portland's B squad third with 99.

Emily Harris led the way with a 20th place finish in 22:20 over 6k, followed by Rowan Cuadrado in 24th in 22:26,  and Fiona O'Leary sneaking into the top 30 in 29th at 22:43.

Kassie Rosenbum of D3 Loras won in 20:11.

In the men's 8k race, the Redhawks finished sixth with 204 points, as Portland's B squad won with a perfect 15.

Freshman Giuliano Scasso continued his run of strong performances, finishing 20th with a time of 24:42. Behind Scasso was Jay Grant with a time of 25:22, while James Parker rounded out SU's top three with a time of 25:35.

University of Colorado grad Ryan Forsyth won in 23:32.

Results of the Lewis-Clark Invitational are available here.

In Riverside, California, the Eastern Washington women's team finished eighth at the Highlander Invitational hosted by UC Riverside.

Loren Linnenburger was Eastern's top runner, as she finished 51st overall in the women's 6k with a time of 22:05, followed by Nicole Deherrera in 63rd in 22:19, and Jasmin Muneton in 72nd at 22:27.

Jennifer Sandoval won the race in 19:59, while Cal State Fullerton won the team title with 35 points.

In the men's 8k race, Eastern Washington finished 14th with 344 points, as Cal Baptist won with 75 points to nose out Cal State Fullerton by 3 points.

The Eagles were led by Noah Hasselblad's 18th place finish in 24:25. Carter Ledwith was 64th in 25:13, and Cameron Stuard was 83rd in 25:33.

Ayrton Ledesma was the overall winner in 23:56.

Results of the Highlander Invitational are available here.

In Lewiston, Idaho, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga, Washington State, and Central Washington all ran their B squads at the Inland Empire Championships, hosted by Lewis-Clark State.

The mens 8k race saw the Zags win the team title with 35 points to beat Idaho (42) and Lewis-Clark (98).

Washington State was seventh with 200, while Central Washington was 16th with 421.

Gonzaga's Jaxon Mackie finished second in 24:22, five seconds behind overall winner Tim Stevens of Idaho's 24:17.

Sam Griffith led the way for Washington State in 17th at 25:13, while Alec Kness was Eastern Washington's top runner in 67th in 26:39. Mateo Rivera led the way for the Wildcats, finishing in 100th with a time of 27:33

In the women's 5k, Gonzaga finished second with 92 points, as Idaho ran away with the team title, scoring 19 points, while Eastern Washington finished tenth.

Brittney Hansen was Gonzaga's top finisher in sixth in 17:38. Jelena Grujic was Washington State's top runner in 16th at 18:08. Madi Carr was the top runner for Eastern Washington, finishing 44th in 18:55.

Complete results of the Inland Empire Championships are available here.

For all teams competing this weekend, the focus turns to their conference championship meets, with Central Washington competing in the GNAC championships on Saturday in Lacey, and the Division I schools running their championships the following weekend.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Seattle University, Eastern Washington, Central Washington, Washington State, and Gonzaga contributed to this report.

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