SPOKANE, Wash. — For the first time ever, a Gonzaga female athlete is headed to Eugene to compete in a national final.
Sophomore Rosina Machu will represent the Zags in the 10,000 meter national championship on Thursday night.
This is the first time Gonzaga will send two athletes to nationals as Wil Smith will also race in the 5,000 meter final on Friday night at 7:55 pm.
Machu finished in third place in her west regional semifinal heat with a time of 34:03.97 to qualify for the national championship race.
Despite her running success, Machu's journey to this point has not been an easy one.
Machu grew up in a refugee camp in war torn Northern Ethiopia during the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea in the early 2000s. As if this was not a dangerous enough situation, Machu's health took a turn when she was two years old.
"My younger sister and I both got malaria, so a lot of my time in the refugee camp, I was sick so I did not get to do very much," Machu said.
Due to the scant resources in the refugee camp, Machu resorted to home remedies to treat her malaria symptoms.
"I vividly remember my mom taking me to this lady who literally just stuck her fingers down my throat to make me throw up all the toxins or whatever was in my system and they would also do blood letting by cutting little pieces of my stomach with a small blade to try and get the stuff out of my system as well," Machu said.
Once Machu recovered, her family was one of just a couple hundred to earn asylum in the United States.
"I am so grateful for my parents and their sacrifice to get our family here because without them I would not be here having these experiences in running at Gonzaga and have the opportunity to get an education, so they are the two people I do all of this for," Machu said.
The Machu family first settled in Pennsylvania before moving to Boise, Idaho where Machu began learning English.
"I was in the English learning classes until the fifth grade, which is when I started to understand English a lot more and could help my parents with their paperwork," Machu said.
When she ran her first mile as part of the presidential testing program in third grade, Machu had no interest in a future in running.
"I remember I showed up to class in my jeggings and a pair of these old twinkle toe light up shoes," Machu mused.
However, her physical education teacher noticed her natural ability and pushed her to run. Once she entered high school, everything changed.
"I was like, 'This is kind of fun, I get to run with my friends and we can talk on runs, it is not just boring like everyone thinks running is, so that kind of kicked it off for me with running," Machu said.
After an outstanding high school career which included three state championships, Machu decided to commit to Gonzaga.
"Just everything they told me about GU, I was like this is the program I want to be a part of, these are the people who are going to become my people and I really want something like that," Machu said.
This past fall, Machu completed an All-American cross country season which saw her win the individual WCC championship and the recognition of being named the WCC runner of the year. She carried that success to the track and made history becoming the first Gonzaga woman to qualify for a national final.
"It is super special. I did not know I was the first Zag woman, so to be able to represent GU at nationals in the final, I am super excited for it because it kind of puts GU on the map and lets people know GU has a great program and we are not just known for basketball," Machu said.
"When she came here, I knew she could be pretty good, I don't know if I would have predicted being in this position as quickly as we are, but it's a credit to her and the work she has put in and the type of teammate she has been for us," Gonzaga track and field head coach Jake Stewart said.
Coach Stewart is impressed with Machu's race demeanor.
"Her life experiences and the things she has navigated to get to this point keeps a lot in perspective. She doesn't get too high or too low, she just keeps showing up and doing the things that we ask her to and ultimately that has put her in the position she is in to go to Eugene and run in the 10K final of the national championship," Stewart said.
Machu is staying cool, calm and collected heading into the biggest race of her young career.
"In that race, I just want to step on the line, go out there and compete just like I have been competing all season and just be proud of myself once I finish the race. It does not matter how I do, just knowing that I can go out there and compete with some of the best in NCAA will be a successful race for me," Machu said.
The 10,000 meter final takes place at 8:08 pm on Thursday June 6 and you can catch the race on ESPN2.
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