Zag Men Place 27th at National Championships

Monday, March 15

Stillwater, OK

9:50 AM

Gonzaga University

NCAA Championships

Results

3/15/2021 2:07:00 PM | Cross Country

Results

Guermali finishes in 55th in program’s first-ever appearance as a team

STILLWATER, Okla. – In the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, the Gonzaga men finished in 27^th place Monday. Yacine Guermali had the best-ever finish at the event by a GU men's runner in 55^th on the campus of Oklahoma State University.

Guermali completed the 10,000-meter course with a time of 31:03.0. Senior Peter Hogan crossed the line in 79^th at 31:16.7. Prior to this season, the program's best-ever finish at the event was by Matthew Crichlow in 2015, when he placed 134^th at 31:16. Evan Bates came in 134^th place Monday with a time of 32:02.8.

Kristen Garcia represented the Zag women at this year's national championships. She placed 129^th, crossing the line at 21:44.1. She was the first GU women's runner in the event since the Bulldogs qualified as a team in 2015, and finished 25^th led by Shelby Mills 82^nd place (20:44) outcome.

Dominic Arce and Wil Smith rounded out the Gonzaga men's scoring. Arce's 33:08.3 finish placed him 211^th in the race, while Smith was 217^th at 33:18.7. James Mwaura (225^th, 33:44.6) and Cullen McEachern (227^th, 33:56.7) completed the runners for the Bulldogs.

"I am still decompressing, it was a war, but we fought hard," Director of GU Cross Country Pat Tyson said. "The course was brutal! It was like a 10K steeplechase! We went out hard to position, it was a tough one for our first one as we had high expectations. I am proud of these Zags for getting their feet wet! The NCAAs is an eye opener! They'll be tough and prepped for the next one! We are all back this fall!"

Gonzaga begins its outdoor track schedule Friday at the Whitworth Essential Meet.