CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Rosina Machu completed her historic season at the NCAA Cross Country Championships at Panorama Farms Cross Country Course on Saturday with a 16th-place, 19:37.7 finish, competing as an individual for the GU women. A sold-out crowd of 5,000 fans were in attendance to watch both races and the top men's and women's collegiate runners compete for the crown.
Machu found herself as high as 12th amidst the tough 6K championship race that saw 255 individual runners. The format of the event brought in 31 teams with seven runners each, while 38 individuals received invites via automatic or at-large bids. Machu was one of the four automatic qualifying individual bids out of the West Region with her fourth place finish in Sacramento last Friday.
Each year, the Top-40 placing runners notch All-American honors. Machu's 16th place finish comfortably earned that nod to become just the second women's cross country All-American runner in program history and the first since 1996. Cheska Fairbanks was the first GU woman and runner to earn All-American honors when she placed 14th at the NCAA National Championships that season. She remains the highest-ever finisher in Gonzaga cross country history at Nationals.
Machu, just a sophomore, will have multiple opportunities to chase down that record over the next few years. In just her second season with Gonzaga, Machu broke the program 6K record three times, most recently with her 19:15.7 finish at the NCAA West Regional last week. She earned three individual race wins, including the first of her career at the Lakefront Invitational on Sept. 29 in Chicago, Ill.
On Saturday, it was Parker Valby of Florida who secured the individual crown with a dominant performance and NCAA 6K record time of 18:55.2. By the 2,000-meter mark, Valby found herself with a comfortable lead ahead of the pack. In the last 1,000 meters, the gap would finally close as Alabama's Doris Lemngole picked up the pace, but Valby's lead was too much as she completed a ten-second victory.
The team title came down to just a single point, as NC State narrowly edged Northern Arizona for their third-consecutive NCAA Championship title. Despite three runners in the Top-20, NAU's 124 team points came up just short. NC State's Katelyn Tuohy placed fifth as the Wolfpack's highest finisher.
RESULTS
| Women's 6K Championship |
| 1 |
Parker Valby |
Florida |
18:55.2 |
| 2 |
Doris Lemngole |
Alabama |
19:05.7 |
| 3 |
Olivia Markezich |
Notre Dame |
19:10.0 |
| 4 |
Hilda Olemomoi |
Alabama |
19:22.1 |
| 5 |
Katelyn Tuohy |
NC State |
19:23.0 |
| 6 |
Flomena Asekol |
Florida |
19:26.9 |
| 7 |
Billah Jepkirui |
Oklahoma State |
19:27.5 |
| 8 |
Chloe Scrimgeour |
Georgetown |
19:28.4 |
| 9 |
Amina Maatoug |
Duke |
19:29.9 |
| 10 |
Maia Ramsden |
Harvard |
19:30.8 |
| 11 |
Sydney Thorvaldson |
Arkansas |
19:33.8 |
| 12 |
Kaylee Mitchell |
Oregon State |
19:34.1 |
| 13 |
Gracelyn Larkin |
Northern Arizona |
19:35.6 |
| 14 |
Aubrey Frentheway |
BYU |
19:36.5 |
| 15 |
Annika Reiss |
Northern Arizona |
19:36.8 |
| 16 |
Rosina Machu |
Gonzaga |
19:37.7 |
| 17 |
Greta Karinauskaite |
Cal Baptist |
19:39.4 |
| 18 |
Juliet Cherubet |
Texas Tech |
19:40.1 |
| 19 |
Judy Kosgei |
South Carolina |
19:41.5 |
| 20 |
Elise Stearns |
Northern Arizona |
19:52.2 |
| Full Results |
