EUGENE, Ore. — Gonzaga men's track wrapped up opening night of the Oregon Relays Friday with six finishers posting times that rank in the Top Five in program history and a bevy of PRs with times that will likely be sending runners to Fayetteville, including a new program record in the 5K from James Mwaura.
The 3000m steeplechase saw Cooper Laird and Ben Hogan both put down probable NCAA West qualifying times en route to ninth- and 10th-place finishes in a race filled with Olympians and pro-caliber racers. Laird (8:50.88) PR'd for the third race in a row, this time an eight-second improvement that propelled him to the front of the pack and third place amongst the fastest steeple times in program history. Hogan's 8:51.92 time was just a fraction of a second off his PR.
Just behind them in 11th, Cullen McEachern (8:55.94) improved his top time by four seconds for a finish that puts him among the top 40 in the nation and fourth in program history. Jaxon Mackie continued to improve his time, knocking off seven seconds for a 9:08.43 finish and 14th place overall.
The Zags' steeple event squad was ranked No. 5 in the nation in Monday's rankings, and three improvements within the top four have the potential to send that ranking higher next week.
"All four of them just ran their race," GU Head Coach Pat Tyson said. "there's all those Olympians upfront, and they did their thing, but our guys were so composed … It's the best foursome steeplechase group in Gonzaga history."
In the 5K, the top three GU finishers put down the first-, second- and third-fastest times in program history for the event. James Mwaura was one of five runners to break the meet record en route to a fourth-place finish, crossing the finish line in a personal-best 13:36.18 to also surpass his own program record — the second program record he's rewritten this spring after smashing the 10K mark () at the Hayward Premiere.
Coming in eighth overall as the next-fastest Zags finisher, Evan Bates cracked the 14-minute mark for the first time in his career for a new PR and the second-fastest time in program history. Wil Smith's PR ranks as the third-fastest 5K in program history in only the third outdoor track competition of his collegiate career, netting him 14th overall.
"After dancing around that 14-minute barrier, it was nice to go under it by a lot," Bates said, "So I just kind of rode with it — I just ran with my teammates and we ended up closing strong."
Up Next
Both Zags track squads will return to Oregon next weekend for the Oregon State High Performance Meet in Corvallis, Ore. Follow @ZagRunning on IG and Twitter and check GoZags.com for live results and viewing options.
