Gonzaga wins its first WCC men's team title; Machu wins women's individual crown...
MALIBU, California--On a sunny southern California morning, coach Pat Tyson's Gonzaga Bulldogs (photo courtesy West Coast Conference) finally prevailed to win the program's first West Coast Conference championship at Alumni Park, hosted by Pepperdine University Saturday, while the women's squad earned an individual victory by Rosina Machu, but finished second in the team race to Portland.
MEN'S RECAP
A trio of Zags, including team leader Wil Smith, went to the front early, surrounded by Portland's Matt Strangio and Santa Clara's Nicholas Russell and Ian Twyman.
At the halfway point of the 8K race, Twyman was the first to drop off, as the group of five opened up a four second lead.
With almost 2.5 kilometers to go, Gonzaga's Bryce Cerkowniak was gamely hanging on, as Russell, who impressed national followers of the sport with his ninth place finish at the Virginia Pre-Nationals two weeks ago, went to the front.
Over the next mile, it became a two man race between Russell and Strangio, who was lurking and biding his time. In the meantime, the two opened up a 4-second lead on Smith, who entered the race as the slight favorite for the individual title.
Strangio surged over the last 800 meters to win in 24:09, with Russell second at 24:11, while Smith finished at 24:35.
Bryce Cerkowniak finished fourth for Gonzaga in 24:43, and waited as a Portland runner and two Santa Clara runners finished inside the top ten, in seventh, ninth, and tenth.
Drew Kolodge was the Zags' third runner in 11th at 25:07, with Logan Law one place back in 12th at 25:11.
Paul Talens was the final Gonzaga scorer in 14th in 25:23, with Michael Maiorano providing insurance as its sixth runner in 15th at 25:24. Gonzaga finished with a 1-5 split of 71 seconds.
In the end, the Zags scored 44 points to Portland's 56 points to hang on for the team title, after holding a 34-62 advantage at 4K.
"I came to Gonzaga 16 years ago, and it was a project," Tyson said on the live stream. "I don't know how many coaches would have taken it on. Over the last four or five years, we've gotten to the point where we're an NCAA qualifier. Finally, for all of our alums, and our athletes and our school back in Spokane, this is big for us."
WOMEN'S RECAP
Behind Pellicoro was her teammate Fleur Templier in third at 21:06, followed by Sadie Tuckwood of the Zags in fourth at 21:09, and Gonzaga's Jessica Frydenlund in fifth at 21:26.
Portland's Maebh Richardson was ninth in 21:55, giving the Zags a small advantage with two runners remaining for both teams.
The Pilots had four runners cross the finish line in 12th, 14th, 15th & 16th before Gonzaga's fourth runner Alexi Fogo crossed in 17th at 22:21. Alicia Anderson closed out the scorers for the Zags in 19th at 22:24, giving Portland the WCC crown over the 28th-ranked Bulldogs by a 40-46 margin.
Gonzaga's 1-5 split was 1:55.
Machu became the first Zag to win the WCC individual title since Shelby Mills won in 2015 in Spokane Valley, which was the last time the Zags won the team title. Machu is the third Zag to win the WCC along with Mills in 2015, and Cheska Fairbanks in 1996.
Both Gonzaga squads return to competition in 13 days at the NCAA West Regional championships in Sacramento.
NOTE: The West Coast Conference, and the sports information office of Gonzaga University contributed to this report.
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