Gigi Maccagnini Leads USC Cross Country At Pac-12 Championships

Women’s Cross Country | October 27, 2023

Junior Gigi Maccagnini led the USC women’s cross country team to an 11^th-place finish at the 2023 Pac-12 Cross Country Championships (6K) hosted by Washington at Chambers Creek Regional Park in University Place, Wash. today (Oct. 27).  The meet featured six of the top 21 ranked teams in the country.

“I like how we worked together as a team,” said USC Associate Head Coach of Cross Country/Assistant Coach Track and Field Jebreh Harris . “We had a 26 second spread with our top 5, which is good. Would we have wanted a better overall team result, yes of course. We know we have more to show. Progress and teamwork is what we saw today. I’m enjoying the culture and camaraderie that we are building as a program.”

Maccagnini led the Trojans with a time of 21:21.7 to finish 69^th overall (59th in scoring).  She moved up five positions in the final kilometer of the race.  Maccagnini’s finish was the best by a Trojan since teammate Giovanna Pisano, sidelined currently, placed 66^th in 2021.  USC also placed 11^th as a team at the 2021 Pac-12 Championships.  Maccagnini’s time was also the fastest by a Trojan at the conference meet since Amber Gore had a time of 21:00.5 to place 79^th in 2017.

The second Trojan to cross the finish line was graduate transfer Tracy Towns with PR of 21:41.8 to place 77^th (63^rd in scoring).  Freshman standout Marjourie Lopez was third among the Trojans with a time of 21:47.4, good for 81^st (67^th in scoring).

A pair of graduate transfers Marina Soares and Marne Sullivan were the final scoring runners for USC.  Soares had a time of 22:35.5 to place 91^st (73^rd in scoring) and Sullivan had a 6K PR of 22:35.9 to place 92^nd (74^th in scoring).

Freshman Angelina Vasquez had a time of 23:15.0 to finish 99^th (80^th in scoring) and sophomore transfer Lucia Rabolli had a time of 23:32.3 to place 102^nd (81^st in scoring).  Right behind them, was freshman Haley Spoden with a time of 23:43.1 to place 104^th.

All of the Trojan runners except for Maccagnini were competing in their first Pac-12 Cross Country Championships.  USC’s 11^th-place finish matched the team’s best finish at the Pac-12 Championships (3^rd time) since placing 10^th in 2012.

Final Results:  1.) Washington – 58, 2.) Stanford – 60, 3.) Colorado – 87, 4.) Oregon – 88, 5.) Utah – 103,…