SPOKANE, Wash. - For the second straight meet, the Gonzaga men's cross country team placed first and Jordan Thurston won the women's race.
Thurston crossed the line at 17:32.8 to claim the individual title at the Gonzaga - Idaho dual meet Saturday. The GU men beat out Idaho, 23-32.
Thurston ran an average mile of 5:38.5 to hold off five Vandal runners that placed second through sixth. Kara Story led the Idaho pack in second with a time of 17:39.3. The Zags' Olivia Evans came in seventh place at 18:36.4.
Max Kaderabek led the Gonzaga men with a second place finish. The junior's time of 24:52.2 was just ahead of teammate Scott Kopczynski in third (25:00.1). Jerry Sicalo also had a Top-10 finish in ninth at 25:42.8. Troy Fraley, running unattached, won the race with a time of 24:24.9.
"Amazing that the Zags pulled off victory with several of our top guns on the sidelines," Director of GU Cross Country Pat Tyson said. I love this team! They're energizing and so much fun to coach. Not one athlete in the 38-strong is not giving their best. We still need to work on some confidence issues and packing up issues, but we are moving in a positive direction!"
Sammy Truax and Quentin Purtzer crossed the line at 25:51.8 and 25:52.7 in 12th and 14th. The duo rounded out the GU scoring.
In the women's race, Katy Culver (18:59.3), Lauren Bourgeois (19:10.3) and Claire Swafford (19:20.4) finished in a pack in 11th, 12th, and 13th.
"Really happy to see the progress Jordan Thurston has made this year," Gonzaga women's Head Coach Patty Ley said. "We saw good progress from our first meet of the year. We still have work to do - but beginning to see the pieces of the puzzle that we can build on this season. We knew we would be developing late this year - and we are on a good, solid path to do that. Katy opened the season solidly and loved seeing Olivia begin to step up to a new level. Megan Chucka ran a tough, tough race after falling early and scraping up - well, everything. Our freshmen Lauren and Claire are picking right up from their best in high school and Anna is just a race or two away from a big breakthrough."
Gonzaga travels to Missoula for its next meet, the Montana Invitational on Sept. 30.
