SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga men's cross country team came in ninth place at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Madison, Wis., Saturday.
James Mwaura led the Zag men with a 40
th place finish. The freshman finished the 8,000-meter course at 24:34.26.
Kyle Thompson was close behind in 49
th at 24:37.77.
Peter Hogan crossed the line with a time of 24:44.48 in 64
th.
Bennett Gagnon (24:50.75) and
Yacine Guermali (24:53.36) were 77
th and 82
nd.
At the Santa Clara University Bronco Invitational, the GU women were paced by a 60
th place finish by
Aimee Piercy. She crossed the line at 21:38.2.
Caroline McCarthy finished the 6K course at 21:59.6 in 93
rd, while
Lauren Haas' time was 22:16.0 in 124
th place.
Monica Ripple (137
th) and
Lauren Bourgeois (143
rd) finished with times of 22:24.3 and 22:28.2.
Stefan Bradley's fourth place overall finish at the Inland Empire Championship in Lewiston, Idaho, led the Gonzaga men to a first place team finish in a race that included split squads from Boise State (ranked 7th nationally) and Washington State (ranked 17th). The Zags had 55 points, while has WSU 68 and Boise State had 69.
The Zags placed four runners inside the top-14 on the Lewiston Orchards challenging 8k course. GU's top seven runners were all in the top-21 finishers of the race.
Bradley crossed the line with a personal record of 24:32. He was followed by teammate
Scott Kopczynski in fifth at 24:33.
Cullen McEachern placed 11th with a time of 24:45, while
Alex Heffelfinger (24:53) and Will Thompson (25:01) were 15th and 20th. Ten of the Zag men ran personal best times for an 8k course.
Katherine Gustafson led the GU women to a fourth place finish. The sophomore finished the 5K course with a time of 18:25. She placed 30th in the 155-runner field. The top-five Bulldog runners finished within a minute of each other.
Claire Gillett ran 18:41 in 41st place.
Kelly Gilbert crossed the line at 18:48 in 47th place, while
Amanda Kiefer (19:13) and
Brazee Smith (19:26) were 68th and 77th.
Boise State won the women's team title with 15 points, followed by WSU (60), Montana (70) and Gonzaga (90).
The Zags compete at the Spokane Falls Community College Open on the Downriver Golf Course on Friday.
