SEATTLE — Gonzaga's Yacine Guermali's 8:06.06 3,000-meter finish on Day 2 of the University of Washington Invitational moved him to No. 3 all-time in program history.
 
Guermali opened the season with an 8:11.37 finish on the same track at the UW Preview two weeks ago, which slid him up to the fourth-best time on the GU all-time list. Saturday, the sophomore placed third in his heat.
 
"Loving the PRs all around," Guermali said. "This was one of my best tactical races! I went for the win! I learned a lot from watching Jakob Ingerbritsen last summer. One of the big takeaways from him was even if he was in the back of a world class field he eased his way to the front. High school me would have panicked and forced a move up early. You live and learn. Glad it worked out. Still some lessons to learn, but a great experience none the less. I ran an 8:36 at this meet last year. What will happen next year? We will continue the journey!"
 
In the first heat of the 3,000 meters, Ben Hogan crossed the line with a personal record of 8:18.38. His seven-second PR is the new sixth-best mark in program history. Kellen Manley's 8:18.80 finish Saturday ranks 10th all-time at GU, tied with Matthew Crichlow. Cullen McEachern finished with a time of 8:35.31.
 
"The first heat of the 3,000 meters showcased three Zag runners," Director of GU Track and Field Pat Tyson said. "Personal bests were achieved by Ben and Kellen. The second heat sizzled with Yacine running a negative split 4:06-4:00 and a nice five-second PR, moving ahead of Willie Milam into the No. 3 spot. Yacine ran nearly perfect. He took the lead on the bell lap, but would be passed by Matt Owen of BYU and Evert Silva of Portland to finish third! Yacine trusted himself. He started in last and paced himself into first. He ran smart and nearly paid off with a win!"
 
In the men's mile, Brandon Pollard ran a 4:05.62, while Scott Kopczynski finished at 4:09.95. Pollard placed fifth in the second heat and Kopczynski was ninth.
 
"Our guys looked a bit flat out the gate," Tyson said. "Both had big time goals of being in the hunt to win, but never put themselves in a position to make that happen. We can learn and get better on the mental side. We can work on perfecting our self-confidence. I do believe in these guys! We learn and we get better!"
 
A group of Bulldogs will head to the D1 Invitational Team Challenge hosted by the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, next Saturday. Live video from inside the Kibbie Dome will be available on GoZags.com.