Zags win first West Coast Conference women's harrier title since 2015...
LODI, California--Rosina Machu of Gonzaga (Paul Merca photo) successfully defended her West Coast Conference Cross Country individual title Saturday morning at Micke Grove Golf Links, as she led four other Zags in the top 14 to lead her team to its first WCC title since winning the 2015 crown en route to qualifying for its first NCAA championship berth.
Machu went to the lead early, with only Washington State's Zenah Cheptoo going with her, crossing the timing mat at the 2k mark in 6:29.
The Zags had all five scorers in the top ten at that point, while the Cougars had their five in the top 25.
Over the next two laps, Portland worked their way up the ladder, but no one was catching Machu, who won in a time of 19:46.
Fleur Templier of Portland reined in Cheptoo to finish second in 20:04, with Cheptoo third in 20:07.
Laura Pellicoro of Portland was fourth in 20:08, while freshman Logan Hofstee of Gonzaga rounded out the top five in 20:15.
Gonzaga placed two more in the top ten with Willow Collins seventh in 20:21, and Jessica Frydwnlund eighth in 20:22.
Jade Rypkema was the Zags' final scorer in 14th in 20:36, as they ran a 1-5 split of 50 seconds.
Behind Cheptoo for WSU were Caroline Jepkorir in 11th in 20:31, Alaina Stone Boggs in 13th at 20:31, Neema Kimtai in 16th in 20:43, and Nicole Bissell in 20th in 21:00.
Washington State ran a 1-5 split of 53 seconds.
The Zags won the team title with 35 points, with Portland second at 49, and the Cougars third with 63 points.
In the men's 8k race, Evans Kurui of Washington State (WSU Athletics photo) took care of business, jumping out to a 11 second lead at the end of the first of four 2k loops to win the individual title in a time of 22:52, 20 seconds ahead of Portland's Matt Strangio.
Gonzaga's Wil Smith was third in 23:16, followed by Portland's Jona Bodirsky in 23:36 and Gig Harbor native Bradley Peloquin in 23:37.
The Zags put two more in the top ten, as Bryce Cerkowniak was sixth in 23:41, and Drew Kolodge was eighth in 23:45.
Cooper Laird was 12th in 24:01, and Logan Law was 13th in 24:07 to finish off Gonzaga's five scorers.
The Zags ran a 1-5 split of 51 seconds.
Behind Kurui for the Cougs were Leif Swanson in tenth at 23:54, Brian Barsaiya in 11th in 24:00, Kelvin Limo in 16th in 24:19 and Evan Bruce in 25th in 24:42, showing a mass improvement in their fifth runner.
The Cougars ran a 1-5 split of 1:50.
While Gonzaga took a slight lead in the team race over Portland at the 4k mark of 39-41, the Pilots put all five scorers in the top ten to prevail 27-42 over the defending champion Zags, with Washington State third at 61.
To show how much the men's race was a runaway between the three schools, the top individual was Zach Elam of San Francisco in 20th, while in the team race, Santa Clara was fourth with 131 points.
BIG SKY CHAMPIONSHIPS...
In Pocatello, Idaho, Noah Hasselblad led Eastern Washington to a fourth place team finish Friday at the Big Sky Conference championship meet, its best team placing since 2015 when the Eagles also took fourth.
Hasselblad was 22nd in a time of 24:49, with Evan Peters 25th in 25:00.
Other scores for the Eagles include Owen Higgins in 30th in 25:18, Austin Steed in 31st in 25:20, and Jesus Herrejon in 35th in 25:34. The Eagles' team 1-5 split was 45 seconds.
Northern Arizona won the men's team title by a 25-49 count over second place Montana State's 49 points. The Eagles finished the day with 135 points.
In the women's 5k, Jasmin Muneton finished 23rd with a time of 17:59. The next finisher was Nattie Ruzauskas in 27th with a time of 18:08. Other scorers for the Eagles were Rylee Brandon in 31st (18:12), Sara Sanders in 37th (18:20), and Jenni Bissell in 38th (18:22).
Eastern ran a 1-5 split 23 seconds, but were hurt by not having team leader Cassidy Walchak-Sloan up front, as she finished 42nd in 18:26.
The Eagles finished fifth with 151 points, as nationally ranked Northern Arizona racked up a perfect 15 to win yet another Big Sky title.
David Mullarkey of Northern Arizona won the men's individual title in 23:07, while teammate Ali Upshaw won the women's crown in 16:11.
WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS...
In Orem, Utah, Azalea Groleau of Seattle University earned a seventh place finish in the women's 6k race at the Western Athletic Conference championships Friday as the Redhawks raced to a fourth place team finish.
Groleau finished in 20:29, as winner Anna Martin of host Utah Valley ran 19:52 to lead her squad to a perfect 15 score.
Behind Groleau were Lilianne Hargreaves in 16th in 21:17 and Diana Camargo Solis one place behind in 21:18. McKenna White was 26th in 21:50 and Alisha Saucedo was 40th in 22:30. SeattleU's 1-5 split was 2:01.
The Redhawk men were last in the nine-team field with a score of 273 points in the men's 8k race.
Freshman Jeremy Posdon led the way for SeattleU in 51st in 25:47.
Mo Guled of Utah Valley was the individual winner in 23:07, while nationally ranked Cal Baptist took the team title with 29 points.
NOTE: The West Coast Conference, Big Sky Conference, Western Athletic Conference and the sports information office of Gonzaga University, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University and Seattle University contributed to this report.
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