MADISON, Wis. – The Gonzaga men's cross country team placed 16th team at the Nuttycombe Invitational Friday, led by a 15th place finish by
James Mwaura.
The Zags entered the race unranked in the latest USTFCCCA poll, and the field included 19 ranked programs. GU finished ahead of 10 teams that appeared in the latest rankings, including No. 12 Syracuse and No. 16 Virginia.
Mwaura crossed the line at 23:56.5. The sophomore rose 24 spots over the last 4,000 meters, and 38 spots over the last 6K.
Peter Hogan placed 61st with a time of 24:22.9.
Cullen McEachern (24:41.0) and
Yacine Guermali (24:43.3) were 110th and 116th in the 245-runner field.
Riley Moore rounded out the Bulldog scoring in 133rd at 24:51.4.
Phillip Fishburn (25:01.6) and
Jake Perrin (25:10.1) also represented Gonzaga in the elite race.
Top-ranked Northern Arizona proved its rating with a first-place team finish. The Lumberjacks top three runners all finished inside the Top-10, and all five scorers were in the Top-25. Iowa State's Edwin Kurgat led for the final 4,000 meters and won the race with a time of 23:29.4.
In Spokane Friday afternoon, the Bulldog women and men swept the team titles at the Sasquatch Invitational for the second straight year. The annual meet returned to the Downriver Golf Course.
Gonzaga's top six finishers placed inside the Top-10 in the women's 5K race.
Paxton Depoe paced led the Zags with a third-place finish at 18:21.8.
Alyssa Bienfang was fifth with a time of 18:27.1.
Liz Hogan (18:44.0),
Claire Gillett (18:48.9),
Jenna Rogers (18:49.8) and
Ariel Evans (18:50.5) rounded out the Top-10 finishes.
The GU men had eight finishers in the Top-15, including three in the Top-10. The Bulldogs'
Ciaran O'Leary was fourth at 24:48.9.
Luke Mason (24:51.7) and
Jaxon Mackie (24:56.6) placed seventh and eighth.
Ben Hogan was 10th at 25:01.4,
David Connell (25:06.1) was 11th,
Hunter Simpson (25:23.4) was 12th,
Matthew Roberts (25:25.3) was 13th and
Dominic Arce (25:28.9) was 15th.
The Zag women wrap up the busy weekend at the Arturo Barrios Invitational Saturday morning at 7:45. Live scoring will be available on GoZags.com.
