SPOKANE, Wash. — Grace McLaughlin, a grad transfer by way of Utah Tech, will join Gonzaga Women's Cross Country and Track in the spring of 2023, Head Coach Jake Stewart announced Thursday. 

McLaughlin will begin a Master's in Sport and Athletic Administration at GU and begin competing for the Zags in track next semester, bringing in an experienced distance competitor ahead of indoor season.

Grace McLaughlin | Rockford, Ill. | Boylan HS / Utah Tech

McLaughlin is coming off her third season of competition with the Trailblazers, most recently placing fifth overall at the George Kyte Classic and sixth at the UC Riverside Invite. As a sophomore in 2021, McLaughlin competed in four races as part of a Utah Tech team that broke the program record  team top five average at the WAC Championships  and posted the third-fastest 6K (21:01.6) in team history at the WAC Championships. That season, she collected an individual win at the SUU Color Country Invite 4K and picked up Second Team All-WAC honors.

On the track, McLaughlin put down team-bests in the 800m (2:15.54) and the 1500 (4:45.08) in 2022 after doing the same in the Mile (5:12.64) and the 3000 (10:20.60) in 2021.

At Boylan High School in Rockford, Ill., McLaughlin was a Three-Time All-Conference, two-time All-Region, and two-time All-State honoree in cross country while winning Illinois State Championships in the 3200m and the 1600m in track. She also made the cut as a New Balance Nationals All-American in the two-mile and 5000m in her senior year.