Gonzaga University
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Mt. SAC Relays
Zags Shine in 10K at Mt. SAC Relays
4/19/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
TORRANCE, Calif. - Gonzaga's Jordan Thurston, Phillip Fishburn and Peter Hogan all ran new program Top-10 10,000-meter times at the 60th annual Mt. SAC Relays Thursday.
Thurston improved her own fourth-best mark in women's program history. She placed 13th in her section at 35:11.04. Her previous personal best was 35:50.69, set earlier this season at the Stanford Invitational.
"Jordan had a terrific race," GU women's Head Coach Patty Ley said. "A 40-second PR in two weeks is awesome. She raced with everything she had and knew she had completely laid it out there. It was such an awesome feeling, and an awful strain on the body at the same time. She has done so much for our program, I'm proud of this and all her efforts."
Fishburn's 30:01.80 was fifth in his men's section. His time ranks fifth in program history. Hogan finished his section of the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 30:09.32. His time ranks seventh all-time at GU and was a personal record by 69 seconds. Eight of the top nine times in program history have come at the Mt. SAC Relays.
"Busy, busy day for us today, navigating to two different meets," Director of GU Track and Field Pat Tyson said. "Peter ran really tough in an elite heat. No one had a bad day for us! Looking forward to Day Two!"
At the Bryan Clay Invitational, Kellen Manley placed fifth in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. He was fourth in his heat with a time of 8:54.17. Troy Fraley (8:57.27) and Alex Heffelfinger (8:59.17) were 12th and 19th. Ben Hogan opened the day for the Zags with a second place finish in the first heat at 9:28.64. It was a 13-second personal record for Hogan.
"Kellen hit the last hurdle costing him the win in the elite heat," Tyson said. "But, it was great to see him get back up and finish so strong. Real proud of him for that. Troy ran a gutty likely NCAA qualifier! Alex brought home another sub-nine-minute finish, making a little history with three sub-nine-minute guys in one race! That makes four Zags smelling the NCAA West Preliminaries next month."
Stefan Bradley was second in the first heat of the men's 5,000 meters. He crossed the line at 14:38.23. The sophomore ran a lifetime-best with a 19-second personal record. William Thompson came in seventh-place in his heat with a 15-second PR of 15:02.36.
In the women's 5,000 meters, Elena Slavoski placed ninth in the first heat with a time of 18:18.89. Aimee Piercy was 15th at 18:31.63.
"Good performances from Elena Slavoski (a 32-second PR), and Aimee with a tiny one despite feeling pretty ill from midway through," Ley said. "Both stayed focused and worked on racing. It was a nice race for both. Elena stayed with the lead pack until 800 to go when they slowly pulled away. I'm really happy for a nice breakthrough for her."
Six Zags run in the men's 1,500 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational Friday, beginning with Jonah Sandoval in the fifth heat at 8:25 a.m. Four GU men's runners are entered in the 5,000 meters at the Spokane Memorial Open at Spokane Falls Community College at 7:30 p.m.
