Gigi Maccagnini Leads USC Women's Cross Country To 3rd-Place Finish At Mark Covert Classic

 
Freshman Gigi Maccagnini finished 12th to lead the Trojans to a third-place finish at the Mark Covert Classic 5K cross country meet at the Carbon Canyon Regional Park in Brea, Calif. today (Sept. 4).  The third-place finish was USC's highest since winning the 2016 Pepperdine Invitational.

The tough 5K race featured 14 teams and the young USC squad, which today featured seven runners in their first race as a Trojan, had four athletes finish in the top 26.

"We had a pretty decent showing today, I like how our team stuck together," said USC associate head coach for cross country Jebreh Harris.  "The main focus we had to day was running as a group.  Initially our ladies stuck together, that was part of the plan.  We have a very young team, they are learning each other, and finding that chemistry that is going to help us out throughout the entire season.  I'm really proud of how we did today, they all worked together.  We had great crowd support from some of their teammates that came out today to support us, friends and family, it was great to see that.  Overall, I'm really proud of how they did."

Maccagnini was the first Trojan to finish the course when she crossed the line in 12th place 18:38.4.  Fellow freshman Giovanna Pisano was the second Trojan to finish, coming in 20th with a time of 18.54.3.

USC's top returning runner senior Alyssa Brewer was 22nd overall with a time of 19:00.3, followed by freshman Maya LaCamp in 26th with a time of 19:08.3.  USC's final scoring runner was junior transfer Janiah Brown who came in 37th with a time of 19:29.6.

The other three Trojans competing in their first meets as Trojans were freshman Isabelle Cairns who was 47th with a time of 19:48.8, freshman Ritika Singh was 78th with a time of 20:36.2 and sophomore transfer Alyssa Blockburger was finished 101 with a time of 21.30.9.

USC will next be in action at the UC Riverside Invite on September 18 in Riverside, Calif.