COLFAX, Wash. – Gonzaga men's and women's cross country competed at the NCAA West Region Championships Friday at the Colfax Golf Club, hoping to earn bids to the NCAA Championship meet next weekend in Madison, Wis. The GU women opened the meet with a fourth-place team finish, and the men wrapped the day with a sixth-place team finish.
Both teams will now wait for the NCAA Selection Committee to determine the at-large qualifiers for the championship races next weekend. The 2024 Division-I men's and women's cross country selection show will air Saturday at 2 p.m. PT on NCAA.com.
As of Friday afternoon, only
Rosina Machu is confirmed to be competing at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 23. The Boise-native placed fourth in a strong West Region field to earn at least an individual at-large bid for the second-straight season. The 21st-ranked Zag women placed fourth behind No. 2 Oregon, No. 12 Stanford, and No. 3 Washington, and are currently projected to make the 31-team championship field as an at-large selection, but will have to wait until Saturday to know for sure.
On the men's side, while an at-large team bid is unlikely,
Wil Smith has the potential to qualify as an at-large individual after finishing sixth in the men's 10K race. The Zag men placed all five point-scorers in the Top 50 of a loaded West Region field, but finished sixth behind No. 12 Washington, No. 15 Oregon, No. 7 Stanford, No. 16 Cal Baptist, and No. 25 Portland.
WOMEN'S 6K RECAP
Action in Colfax began Friday morning as Machu led the pack of 265 individual runners alongside eventual champion Amy Bunnage from Stanford out of the gate. By the 3,000-meter split, a dozen harriers formed the lead group with Machu in tenth.
As the finish line approached, it was Machu in fourth behind Bunnage (19:17.1), Silan Ayyildiz (Oregon) and Maddy Elmore (Oregon). The senior finished her penultimate collegiate 6K in 19:34.5, a comfortable two seconds ahead of Arizona State's Judy Chepkoech.
Willow Collins was next for the Bulldogs at 21st, finishing in 20:05.6. For Machu and Collins, their Top 25 placements earned them USTFCCCA All-West Region honors.
Jessica Frydenlund (32nd, 20:26.2),
Logan Hofstee (37th, 20:31.6), and
Anna Grabowski (44th, 20:35.6) rounded out the scoring for Gonzaga, who's 134 team points is second-lowest in program history. All seven runners for the Bulldogs placed in the Top 50 on Friday, with
Alexi Fogo (20:37.9) and
Jade Rypkema (20:38.3) crossing the finish line in 46th and 47th.
Per the NCAA, the top two teams from each of the nine regions automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, and 13 teams are selected at-large. Individually, the first four regional finishers not from an automatic qualifying team also earn automatic bids, meaning no matter what Machu is headed to Madison. Whether the Zag women will join her as a team is yet to be confirmed.
MEN'S 10K RECAP
Similar to the West Coast Conference Championships on Nov. 2, Washington State's Evans Kurui was out to a big lead early in the race. Kurui never led by less than ten seconds after the 2,200-meter split, eventually claiming the West Region title in 28:53.7, nearly 15 seconds ahead of the runner-up in Matt Strangio (Portland).
Smith placed sixth for the second-straight season, crossing the finish line in 29:11.9 on Friday.
Drew Kolodge (29:34.4) and
Bryce Cerkowniak (29:36.2) were the next Bulldogs across the finish, placing back-to-back at 24th and 25th to earn USTFCCCA All-West Region nods.
Logan Law made a late push in the final kilometer, jumping up seven spots on the leaderboard to finish 41st in 29:57.3.
Paul Talens was the fifth scorer for GU, placing 43rd in 29:58.4, and
Cooper Laird cracked the Top 50 at 48th with a time of 30:05.4.
Mason Kissell was not far behind, finishing 64th (30:38.9) in his first collegiate 10K race.
Although placing outside of the top four on the individual leaderboard, Smith is projected to qualify as an at-large individual. The Spokane-native will wait until Saturday to see if Stanford and/or Cal Baptist qualify for nationals as at-large teams, which would make him the next individual on a non-qualifying team to be selected at-large.
UP NEXT
The NCAA Championships are set to kick off Nov. 23 at 7:20 a.m. PT and will be aired on ESPNU and streamed on ESPN+. Both GU teams competed at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course in September at the Nuttycombe Invitational, meaning a bid to nationals would mark a return to Madison this season.
Full results of the NCAA West Region Championships can be found
HERE.
