Manley Ends Season in Record-Breaking Fashion
5/25/2018 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Gonzaga's Kellen Manley ran the second-fastest 3,000-meter steeplechase in program history at the NCAA West Preliminary Round Friday. The regional is being run at Sacramento State's Hornet Stadium.
Manley crossed the line at 8:49.35. He ran in a fast heat, in which 10 of the 16 runners had either a personal best or season best finish. The top four times in the quarterfinal came from the first of the three heats. Manley placed 20th overall and eighth in his heat. Sammy Truax was 14th in the heat and placed 39th overall with a time of 9:07.16.
"It was amazing coming here with the most Zags in school history and know I have much more to give," Manley said. "That will be my focus the next 12 months!"
"I don't want my setbacks to characterize my season," Truax said. "I certainly wanted more today. I know I can be up there with the top collegiate steeple guys."
Troy Fraley was eighth in the second heat at 8:57.39. He finished 28th overall. Alex Heffelfinger was 16th in the third heat and 47th overall with a time of 9:20.89.
"I'm excited to see six of these guys back next year and loved my time as a Zag," Fraley said."
"I was happy to be here and get the experience, but I know we can do much more," Heffelfinger said."
Minnesota's Obsa Ali had the top qualifying time of the day at 8:36.49. The top-three finishers from each heat, plus the next three fastest times qualified for the national semifinals in Eugene, Ore. Portland's Riley Osen had the third and final qualifying mark of the next three fastest times at 8:44.09.
"It was really tough steeplechasing at Hornet Stadium," Director of GU Track and Field Pat Tyson said. "Four Zags entered and a couple were wounded coming in, but they all fought hard! Kellen with the No. 2 all-time finish in Gonzaga history, Sammy finished respectfully over the last 200 meters in his first time at the show, Troy gave it his all and Alex made his first appearance here as well.
"What do we take out of this? Certainly some disappointment, we all wanted more. I love these guys! They gave their heart and soul to this program! They are program changers! Troy set the bar last year, and although running with a sore foot for the last few months, I'm so proud of him. He's a Zag forever!"
Manley entered the quarterfinals seeded 17th. He ran his previous personal best, 8:51.26, at the Stanford Invitational on March 30. Manley returned to the NCAA West Preliminary Round for the second time. In 2016 as a sophomore, he placed 12th in his heat, and 31st overall, with a time of 9:13.70 in Lawrence, Kan.
Fraley made his third appearance in the preliminaries. Prior to his historic All-American finish last season, he crossed the line at 9:10.49 in the 2015 West Preliminary in Austin, Texas. He placed 29th in the event, and 10th in the second heat. The then-sophomore entered the race as the 34th seed in the region and 12th in his heat. The senior, entered this regional seeded 28th.
Truax was seeded 36th with a time of 8:55.95, while Heffelfinger was 43rd at 8:56.97. They rank third and fourth in program history and made their first appearances at the West Prelims. Traux ran his qualifier at Stanford, while Heffelfinger ran his personal record at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.
Results: Men 3000 Meter Steeplechase (Prelims) | |||||||
Advance top 3 from each ht. plus next best 3 times to Eugene | |||||||
Place | Athlete | Affiliation | Time | Heat (pl) | |||
1 | Obsa ALI | JR | Minnesota | 8:36.49 | Q | 1 (1) | PB |
2 | Matt OWENS | FR | BYU | 8:36.73 | Q | 1 (2) | PB |
3 | Clayson SHUMWAY | SO | BYU | 8:36.76 | Q | 1 (3) | PB |
4 | Steven FAHY | JR | Stanford | 8:37.50 | q | 1 (4) | PB |
5 | Andrew GARDNER | SR | Washington | 8:38.79 | Q | 3 (1) | PB |
6 | Brian BARRAZA | SR | Houston | 8:41.49 | Q | 3 (2) | PB |
7 | Jordan CROSS | SR | Weber State | 8:41.72 | Q | 3 (3) | PB |
8 | Dylan HODGSON | JR | Kansas | 8:43.14 | q | 1 (5) | PB |
9 | John RICE | SO | Texas | 8:43.35 | Q | 2 (1) | PB |
10 | Riley OSEN | FR | Portland | 8:44.09 | q | 1 (6) | PB |
11 | Jacob HESLINGTON | SO | BYU | 8:44.46 | 3 (4) | ||
12 | Spencer FEHLBERG | SR | Utah State | 8:44.65 | Q | 2 (2) | PB |
13 | Bailey ROTH | JR | Arizona | 8:45.70 | Q | 2 (3) | SB |
14 | Daniel CARNEY | JR | BYU | 8:46.15 | 2 (4) | ||
15 | Harry EWING | FR | Wyoming | 8:46.81 | 3 (5) | PB | |
16 | Riley MCINERNEY | SR | Eastern Illinois | 8:47.29 | 3 (6) | PB | |
17 | Andrew MILLIRON | SR | Air Force | 8:47.97 | 1 (7) | PB | |
18 | Yusuke UCHIKOSHI | SR | Boise State | 8:48.03 | 3 (7) | ||
19 | Noah SCHUTTE | JR | Portland | 8:48.14 | 2 (5) | ||
20 | JR | Gonzaga | 8:49.35 | 1 (8) | PB | ||
21 | Porter REDDISH | SO | BYU | 8:50.28 | 2 (6) | PB | |
22 | Nathan MYLENEK | SO | Iowa | 8:50.94 | 3 (8) | ||
23 | Jackson MESTLER | SO | Oregon | 8:53.13 | 2 (7) | PB | |
24 | Alec BASTEN | FR | Minnesota | 8:54.30 | 1 (9) | PB | |
25 | Adam PETERMAN | SR | Colorado | 8:54.63 | 1 (10) | SB | |
26 | Christian LIDDELL | JR | Oklahoma State | 8:57.04 | 1 (11) | ||
27 | Garrett MARSING | FR | BYU | 8:57.23 | 3 (9) | ||
28 | SR | Gonzaga | 8:57.39 | 2 (8) | |||
29 | Adam HENDRICKSON | JR | Utah State | 8:57.46 | 2 (9) | PB | |
30 | Kyle HOSTING | SR | Arkansas | 8:57.51 | 3 (10) | ||
31 | Haran DUNDERDALE | JR | Bradley | 8:58.34 | 2 (10) | ||
32 | Noah MCDERMOTT | SR | St. Mary's (Cal.) | 8:59.06 | 3 (11) | ||
33 | Adrian JONES | SO | Utah Valley | 9:01.12 | 2 (11) | ||
34 | Joey BERRIATUA | SR | Santa Clara | 9:01.70 | 3 (12) | ||
35 | Colton JOHNSEN | SO | Washington St. | 9:02.22 | 1 (12) | ||
36 | Craig HUFF | JR | San Jose St. | 9:03.88 | 2 (12) | ||
37 | Daniel RAMIREZ | SR | Cal St. Fullerton | 9:05.19 | 3 (13) | ||
38 | Jonny GLEN | SO | New Mexico | 9:06.73 | 1 (13) | ||
39 | SO | Gonzaga | 9:07.16 | 1 (14) | |||
40 | Mohamed AZIZ | SR | San Francisco | 9:07.46 | 1 (15) | ||
41 | Raymond GONZALES | FR | Texas A&M | 9:09.31 | 2 (13) | ||
42 | Kai BENEDICT | JR | California | 9:09.84 | 1 (16) | ||
43 | Takeshi OKADA | JR | California | 9:10.41 | 3 (14) | ||
44 | Ryan CLEARY | JR | Abilene Christian | 9:13.52 | 2 (14) | ||
45 | Alexander HOWARD | SR | San Francisco | 9:14.81 | 2 (15) | ||
46 | Brant GILBERTSON | SR | North Dakota State | 9:18.16 | 3 (15) | ||
47 | SO | Gonzaga | 9:20.89 | 3 (16) | |||
Simon GRANNETIA | JR | Portland | DNS | 2 | |||
