MADISON, Wisc. — Gonzaga men's and women's cross country are set to compete in the biggest NCAA meet of the regular season on Friday at the Wisconsin-hosted Nuttycombe Invitational, looking for a big race that could shake up their respective places in the national rankings. The men are sitting at No. 14 in the most recent USTFCCA poll, with the women receiving votes.
NUTTYCOMBE INVITATIONAL
Zimmer Championship Course (Madison, Wis.)
Women's 6K - 10:20 a.m. PST | Men's 8K - 11:00 a.m PST
WATCH ($$$, RunnerSpace) | Live Stats
In total, 43 teams that were ranked among the top-30 of the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll in Week 4 are in both fields combined, with 24 in the Women's 6k Championship, set to begin at 10:20 a.m. PST. Eight of those are in the Top 10, plus nine teams from No. 11 to No. 20 and seven more from No. 21 to No. 30. The other 19 ranked squads will take part in the Men's 8k Championship at 11 a.m. PST, highlighted by four of the nation's Top 5 and eight of the Top 10 along with 11 others.
The GU men sit at No. 14 nationally and No. 2 in the West in the most recent rankings after reaching a program-best of No. 12 the week prior. The Bulldogs came home from a similarly-loaded Cowboy Jamboree that had seven of the nation's Top 10 teams with a 10th-place overall finish, beating out No. 8 Washington, No. 15 Harvard, No. 21 Princeton, No. 23 Furman, No. 24 Ole Miss and No. 29 Texas in the team standings. Yacine Guermali's 15th-place finish (23:42.6) led a Zags contingent that all finished in the Top 100.
The Zag women are in the receiving votes category, but have spent much of this season in the rankings, peaking at a program-best No. 21 two weeks ago. They'll get a chance to knock off some ranked competition and race their way back into the Top 30. Three-time national qualifier Kristen Garcia leads a GU contingent that most recently took fifth at the Battle of Beantown in Boston, Mass.
This is the second straight year that both teams are represented at Nuttycombe. In 2021, the men outraced 10 ranked teams and placed a program-best seventh at the annual race, with the women knocking off three ranked teams and finishing 21st in the team total in their first appearance. That race proved to be a catalyst to a resurgent year for both squads, with the men climbing to a program-best in the rankings and reaching their second-straight NCAA Championship and the women entering the rankings and finishing as one of the first teams out.
