LEWISTON, Idaho – The Gonzaga women's cross country team placed second at the Inland Empire Championships Saturday, while the Zag men were fourth. The annual event is hosted by Lewis-Clark State at the Lewiston Orchards.
Jaxon Mackie paced the GU men with an eighth-place finish, and
Alicia Anderson led the Bulldog women with a 10
th place finish.
Aimee Piercy, who ran unattached, won the women's race with a time of 17:20.
"We had great weather, a bit cold, but bright sunshine, very little to no wind," GU Director of Cross Country
Pat Tyson said. "We left out our top 10 runners, but were able to still have two Top-20 all-time 8K performances. The coaches thought that Jaxon had a big breakout race in a huge personal best. He got out fast early, put himself in the thick of things, fought hard, and the results showed a Top-10 finish."
Mackie ran the seventh-fastest time in program history at 24:05.
Ben Hogan crossed the line in 19
th at 24:29, which ranks 21
st all-time at Gonzaga.
Matthew Roberts was 25
th with a time of 24:41.
Alex Walde (24:49) and
Bradley Rzewnicki (24:50) placed 31
st and 32
nd.
On the women's side, Anderson's time of 17:51 was just ahead of teammate,
Brittney Hansen's 17:51 finish. The Zags'
Makenna Edwards (17:57) and
Paxton Depoe (18:02) were 15
th and 16
th.
Alyssa Bienfang and
Claire Gillett were close behind in 18
th and 19
th at 18:04 and 18:09.
"Great morning for the women," GU women's Head Coach
Jake Stewart said. "Some really nice steps forward for some of your younger women. And, we also had some significant improvements for some of the ladies who ran here a year ago. I really like where we're at moving forward."
Idaho took the women's team title, sweeping the top three scoring spots, and placing its top five runners in the Top-10. The Vandals finished with 19 points as a team. The Bulldogs had 62 points.
Calgary had the top four finishes in the men's race, led by Alex James at 23:29. The Dinos cruised the team win with 21 points. Idaho was second with 55 points.
The Gonzaga men and women will split squads next weekend. Friday morning, the Bulldog men will send a select group of runners to the elite Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wis. Friday afternoon, the GU women and men will have participants in the Sasquatch Invitational at the Downriver Golf Course in Spokane. The Zag women wrap up the busy weekend at the Arturo Barrios Invitational Saturday morning.
