SACRAMENTO, Calif. – James Mwaura had the best-ever finish by a Gonzaga men's runner at the 2018 NCAA West Regional Championships Friday. The freshman broke the program's 10,000-meter course record with a time of 29:48.9 at the Haggin Oaks Golf Course.
Mwaura is the first Zag to run a sub-30-minute 10K, and the second GU runner to earn All-Region honors. Matthew Critchlow placed 18
th at the 2015 regionals, becoming the first Bulldog to be tabbed All-Region and earn a spot in the national championships. Mwaura and the Gonzaga men will have to wait until the full field for the national championships is announced on Saturday at 2 p.m. Pacific Time.
A total of 31 teams compete as a team at the NCAA Div. I Championships. Eighteen bids are automatic (top two teams in each of nine regions), and 13 bids are at-large. After teams have been determined, 38 additional individuals per gender are selected to compete at the NCAA Championships. Among individuals not selected as members of qualifying teams in the above process, the top four finishers at each regional meet are automatically selected (each must have finished within the top 25 of the region).
Two additional athletes will be selected from the remainder of the national pool (and must have finished in the regional top 25) as at-large individuals. Mwaura will have to be named one of those two additional athletes from across the country.
The Zag men placed ninth as a team.
Yacine Guermali ran the second-fastest 10K time in program history at 30:09.8. He placed 31st, just ahead of teammate
Peter Hogan's 37th-place finish. Hogan crossed the line at 30:17.7, the fifth-fastest 10K time in GU history.
Kyle Thompson (31:04.5) and
Andrew Clusserath (31:07.4) both ran top-20 program times, and placed 78th and 80th in the 212-runner field.
Bennett Gagnon (31:14.7) and
Ciaran O'Leary (33:12.1) were 85th and 172nd.
"A big record-breaking finish by James (Mwaura) today," Director of GU Cross Country
Pat Tyson said. "He was right there in second near the end, but got caught up in the pack. Still, what a great race by him. I thought Yacine (Guermali) and Peter (Hogan) put us a good in a spot. Overall, I thought our guys did well today, but we are disappointed. We wanted more. We wanted to qualify here for nationals. But, I'm proud of the guys. What a great season."
Nick Hauger of Portland won the men's race at 29:42.4. He led the Pilots to their second-straight region title. Portland held off Washington for the win. Arizona's Carlos Villarreal placed second with a time of 29:43.4.
Aimee Piercy led the Zag women with an 83rd place finish. She crossed the line at 21:24.6. As a team, Gonzaga placed 24th in the strong West Region field.
Claire Gillett finished in 148th with a time of 22:14.95.
Caroline McCarthy was close behind at 22:20.37 in 153rd.
Lauren Bourgeois (22:31.35) and
Katherine Gustafson (22:33.26) were 170th and 178th.
Monica Ripple (22:38.73) and
Ally Legard (23:17.67) rounded out the GU finishes in 183rd and 217th.
"I thought our women had a really good day," Gonzaga women's head coach
Jake Stewart said. "We basically ran an entirely new lineup today, and we beat two teams that got us at the conference meet and closed a big gap to a third. I'm really proud of the way we raced. Aimee (Piercy) ran her best race of the season, and finished just outside the top-10 in program history with her time. Claire (Gillett) ran great and was aggressive for the second half of the race. I thought our other runners did really well, and ran hard. I was proud of all of them. All in all, it was a great day for our women. We exceeded the expectations we had coming into today."
There were 36 teams in the women's 6,000-meter race, with a total of 250 runners. Oregon edged out Boise State for the women's team title. The Ducks had three runners place in the Top-10, led by Jessica Hull's second place finish at 19:22.5. Teammate Susan Ejore was close behind in third with a time of 19:24.6. Boise State's Allie Ostrander won the women's race at 19:09.0. The redshirt junior won the title in 2015 and placed second last year.
Gonzaga Women's Finishes
Gonzaga Men's Finishes
