The Gonzaga men's and women's cross country teams head to Malibu, Calif. to compete in the West Coast Conference Championships at Alumni Park on Pepperdine's campus Saturday. Both squads look to continue to make noise ahead of the NCAA Regional and Championship meets on Nov. 10 and 18.
 
WCC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
 
Oct. 28 | Alumni Park | Malibu, Calif.
 
Live Results | Live Stream | WCC Championship Central
 
SCHEDULE
Women's 6K: 10:00 a.m.
Men's 8K: 11:00 a.m.
 
THE WOMEN
The women's race will feature the top ten runners from each of the nine West Coast Conference Schools – Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Clara. The top ten finishers in the race will compile the list of First Team All-WCC runners, while placements 11 through 15 will compile the Second Team All-WCC nods.
 
The 28th-ranked Zags are the lone WCC school in the Top 30 of the most recent USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll, with Portland receiving votes in the latest three polls. In the West Region, Gonzaga ranks sixth and is joined by Portland (Eighth) and San Francisco (13th) in the latest poll.
 
Last year, the Zag women placed fourth at the WCC Championships at Fernhill Park in Portland, Ore. Kristen Garcia and Rosina Machu led the pack for the Bulldogs with Top-10 finishes, Garcia placing sixth (20:08.6) and Machu placing seventh (20:13.1). Garcia's sixth place was the best by a GU runner since Claire Manley's sixth place finish in 2019.
 
Head coach Jake Stewart's squad looks to continue a historic season. The women opened with an individual and team title at the Clash of the Inland Northwest in Cheney. They now return to Alumni Park this weekend after taking the team title of the Waves Invitational in September, also at Alumni Park.
 
Their third and most recent team title came at the Bronco Invite on Oct. 14 in Sunnyvale, Calif. Machu secured the individual title in the women's 6K by almost 40 seconds, leading the Zags to a 40-point team effort and victory. Her time of 19:16.3 broke the program record, a record she set just two weeks earlier at the Lakefront Invite (19:20.3) in Chicago, Ill.
 
Sadie Tuckwood also made waves at the Bronco Invite, taking third with a program third-best time of 19:57.1. During the 2023 season, Tuckwood has recorded a seventh place finish (14:05.6) in the Waves Invite's 4K race, and an 18th place finish (20:19.0) at the Lakefront Invitational.
 
True freshman Jessica Frydenlund looks to continue an impressive debut season with the Zags. In the season-opening Clash of the Inland Northwest, Frydenlund inked her name into the program 4K record book with a winning time of 13:48.4 (tied for ninth in program history). The Anacortes, Wash. native became the first Zag woman to win her debut collegiate race and the first GU runner since James Mwaura (2018 Clash of the Inland NW) to accomplish that feat.
 
THE MEN
The format of the men's race will be identical to that of the women's, with the exception of Pacific. The top ten runners from the other eight WCC schools will compete in the 8K race. Similarly, the top ten finishers of this race will compile the men's First Team All-WCC runners, while 11 through 15 the Second Team honors.
 
The Zag men began the season at No. 30 in the USTFCCCA National Coaches Preseason Poll and reached as high as 23 before dropping out of the latest poll. In the West Region, Gonzaga currently ranks fourth, with Portland (Sixth) and Santa Clara (Ninth) also representing the WCC in the latest rankings.
 
The men finished second for the third straight year at last year's WCC Championships. Wil Smith led GU runners with a third place (22:11.5) finish, notching his second consecutive First Team All-WCC finish of his career. Yacine Guermali was the next-highest placing Zag at 15th with a time of 22:42.7. The Bulldog men have finished in the top four at the WCC Cross Country Championships in each of the last 10 seasons, with a total of nine First Team All-West Coast Conference athletes.
 
Head coach Pat Tyson's team has also made headlines throughout the course of the 2023 season. The men completed the Gonzaga sweep at the Clash of the Inland Northwest, securing the team title after placing first through sixth on the individual leaderboard. Smith earned the individual title with a time of 18:32.7. Bryce Cerkowniak, despite matching Smith's 18:32.7 time, was granted second place after an official's judgement call determined Smith crossed first. Evan Bates (18:32.8), Kyle Radosevich (18:32.9), and Drew Kolodge (18:33.3) all secured team points after crossing the finish line with just a 0.6 second difference.
 
Three weeks later, the Zag men traveled to the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn. where they secured a second place team finish, knocking off WCC foe Portland along the way. Smith paced GU with a second place individual finish of 24:00.4 (8K), and Radosevich cracked the top ten with a seventh place finish (24:20.9).