Gonzaga women crack USTFCCCA national poll at number 27...
NEW ORLEANS--After a strong fifth place finish at last Friday's Lakefront Invitational in Chicago, the Gonzaga women's cross country team returned to the national top 30 for the first time since week 3 of last season, positioned at number 27 in the latest USTFCCCA Division I coaches' poll released Tuesday.
The Zags were led by Rosina Machu (Paul Merca photo), who won the 6k race in 19:21, with her closest competitor, Ohio State's Addie Engel, second in 19:45.
In Chicago, Gonzaga, who did not receive any votes in last week's USTFCCCA national coaches' poll, beat two nationally ranked teams in then number 30 Ohio State, who was sixth, and former number 26 Michigan, who was seventh.
Both teams are out of the national top 30 after last weekend's meets.
Even though the Washington Huskies were idle last week, Maurica Powell's women's squad moved up one spot to number 8 in the national poll.
There were no changes in the national women's top five, as NC State, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and Stanford kept their spots from last week's poll.
Pac-12 teams in the top 30 include number 10 Colorado, number 17 Oregon, number 20 Utah, and number 30 Oregon State.
Gonzaga is the only women's team from the West Coast Conference in the top 30.
On the men's side, Gonzaga moved up one spot in the national poll to number 23. Gonzaga won the Whitman Open in Walla Walla on Saturday, despite sitting out most of their top runners.
The national men's top five remain, in order: defending national champion Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, BYU, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
Gonzaga is the only team from the West Coast Conference in the national top 30.
Pac-12 teams ranked in the men's top 30 include number 13 Stanford, number 20 Colorado, and number 29 Oregon.
The Gonzaga men, and both Washington squads return to action on Friday October 13th at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, while the Zag women head to Santa Clara, California for the Bronco Invitational.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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