MADISON, Wis. - No. 23 Gonzaga women's cross country finished eighth at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Friday, knocking off four ranked teams in the process on the Thomas Zimmer Championships Cross Country Course. The 23rd-ranked Zags earned wins over No. 4 Oregon, No. 13 Lipscomb, No. 16 Virginia, and No. 22 Boston College as their 260 team points earned them their highest finish at Nuttycombe in program history.

Rosina Machu made her season debut for GU on Friday, placing third in 20:06.2 to earn the highest individual finish in Gonzaga program history at this meet. Machu muscled her way to the front almost immediately in the women's 6K championship race, keeping tight with eventual champion Sadie Sigfstead from Villanova and runner-up Florence Caron from Penn State.

"To come out to Nuttycombe and have that belief and confidence, not just in ourselves, but in our team and what we can do as a whole just shows that level of trust that we have from top to bottom," Machu said of the team's eighth-place finish. "I'm just really proud of this team and it's amazing to see these women come together under the same goal and run for each other."

Logan Hoftsee was the next-highest placement for the Bulldogs, earning a 43rd-place finish in 20:54.2. Jessica Frydenlund and Willow Collins finished back-to-back in 56th and 57th with times of 21:02.7 and 21:04.4, while Sadie Tuckwood placed 101st in 21:26.2 to round out Gonzaga's point scoring.

The Zags will hope to return to Madison in November when the NCAA Championships take place at this same championship course. For now, they will continue their postseason preparation at the Whitman Invitational in Walla Walla, Wash. on Oct. 5 at the Veterans Memorial Golf Course.