Number 27 Gonzaga wins Santa Clara Bronco Invitational...
SUNNYVALE, California--The number 27 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs were one of the few nationally ranked teams who elected not to travel to either the Nuttycombe Invitational in Wisconsin or the XC 23 Pre-Nationals in Virginia to chase at-large points, opting to stay on the West Coast and race at the Santa Clara Bronco Invitational Saturday at Baylands Regional Park.
For the second straight meet, Gonzaga's Rosina Machu (photo courtesy West Coast Conference) took home the victory, cruising through the 6k course in 19:17, winning by a comfortable 40 second margin.
The Zags placed all five scorers inside the top 20 to take the team title by a 40-118 margin over West Coast Conference rival San Francisco, with Cal from the Pac-12 third at 122.
Behind Machu, true freshman Jessica Frydenlund continued to make noise in her collegiate debut season, placing 11th with a time of 20:14. Alicia Anderson also contributed to the scoring for the Bulldogs, placing 14th with a time of 20:33. Alexi Fogo rounded out the Gonzaga point-getters with a 17th place finish of 20:41.
The Zags finished with a 1-5 split of 1:34.
In Charlottesville, Virginia, the Washington State women finished ninth, while their men's squad finished 18th at the XC23 Pre-Nationals meet at Panorama Farms Saturday hosted by the University of Virginia on the course that will host the NCAA championships.
The Cougars faced several nationally ranked teams in the 24-team women's field and 23-team men's field.
In the women's 6k race, Neema Kimtai led the way for the Cougars, as she finished 25th in 20:35. She was followed by Cristina Molteni in 44th place in 20:55, then Caroline Jerotich in 48th at 21:00. Nicole Bissell was 115th in 21:41, and Alaina Stone-Boggs rounded out the five scorers in 126th place in 21:46 as the Cougs had a 1-5 split of 1:11.
WSU scored 345 points, as Brigham Young, the nation's number 6 team took the title with a low of 32 points, followed by number 19 Arkansas with 90 points, then number 7 Virginia with 104 points. Number 17 Oregon was fourth with 117 points.
BYU's Carmen Alder won the 6k race in a time of 19:37.
In the men's 8k race, Brian Barsaiya led the way for the Cougars with a 17th-place finish in 23:37. Teammates Kelvin Limo (49, 24:08), Kyle Ortega-Gammill (94, 24:31), Leif Swanson (113, 24:42), and Micah Galeana (164, 25:26) followed to give the WSU men's team an 18th overall finish in the team scoring of the men's championship race with 413 points.
Number 21 Arkansas rolled to the team title, placing all five scorers inside the top 20 with a score of 35 points. Number 17 Tennessee was second with 89 points, followed by number 10 Virginia with 112 points.
In Salem, Oregon, the shorthanded Seattle University women's team won the George Oja Linfield Invitational Saturday at the Oak Knoll Golf Course.
The Redhawks scored 46 points to squeeze out the team title over the University of Portland's B team by one point, as Portland's top runners ran against a national caliber field at the Nuttycombe Invitational Friday.
Southern Idaho was third with 68 points.
Azelea Groleau of SeattleU finished second over the 6k course in 20:57, as unattached runner Hannah Eagon won in 20:32.
Behind Groleau, Emily Harris was ninth in 21:27, followed by Lilianne Hargreaves in 11th at 21:34. Rowan Cuadrado was 20th in 22:15, and Diana Camargo Solis was 28th in 22:41.
In the men's 8k race, SeattleU's Yonas Sauers, an NCAA D2 cross country championships qualifier while at Wingate University, squeezed out a one second win over Portland's Chris Anderson, running 24:04 to 24:05.
There was a gap of 1:16 before the Redhawks put another runner past the finish line, with Khalid Hirsi 48th in 25:20. Lance Mason was 79th in 26:06, followed by Parker Wagnild in 93rd in 26:18, and Zachary Sundt in 101st in 26:30.
SeattleU finished seventh in the 24-team field with 249 points, as Portland's B team won with 34 points, with the Portland based Jacuzzi Boys team second with 96 points, and Mesa College third with 110 points.
In Lewiston, Idaho Saturday, the Gonzaga men won the team title at the Lewis-Clark Invitational at the Lewis-Clark Cross Country Trail, hosted by Lewis-Clark State College.
The Zags scored 64 points to finish ahead of Montana's 88 and Idaho's 94 points.
Eastern Washington was fourth with 98 points, while Washington State was tenth with 220 points.
Noah Hasselblad of Eastern Washington was the top individual in fifth in 24:16 over 8k. Will Thorsett was Gonzaga's top runner in eighth at 24:31. Eric Swedin led the way for Washington State in 45th at 25:26.
Robert Swoboda of Corban won the race in 23:54.
In the women's 5k, Gonzaga finished second with 37 points behind Idaho's 26 points. Eastern Washington was third with 73 points.
Gonzaga alum Kristen Garcia was the overall winner in 16:54. Anna Grabowski was the Zags' top runner in fourth at 17:21, while Nattie Ruzauskas led the way for Eastern Washington in tenth at 17:39.
With all five Washington Division I school having competed Friday and Saturday, the focus turns towards their respective conference championship races on October 27th and 28th.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Gonzaga, Washington State, Seattle University, and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.
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