FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gonzaga's
Alicia Anderson advanced to the women's 1,500-meter national quarterfinal with a fourth-place finish in the third heat of the first round Thursday at the NCAA West Preliminary Round.
Anderson crossed the line with a personal record of 4:18.53, qualifying for the next round with a top-five finish in her heat. The sophomore entered the first round seeded 32nd at 4:21.68 but used a big kick on the fourth and final lap to clinch her spot in the quarterfinals. She remained with the front pack for most of the race before pulling into fourth, and then holding off a few runners.
"Alicia ran as tactically smart a race as you could've asked for in her first NCAA experience," GU Women's Track Head Coach
Jake Stewart said. "To advance on to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships is a great accomplishment and doing it with a PR just puts the cap on a great day for her. Gives her a chance to run again on Saturday."
A total of 24 runners advanced from the first round to the quarterfinals, with the Top 5 from each heat moving on plus the next four best times overall. Anderson's finish was the ninth-fastest in all four heats of the first round.
Anderson is also scheduled to run in the 5,000-meter national semifinal Saturday at 6:10 p.m. Pacific Time. The 1,500-meter quarterfinal is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
In the women's 10,000 meters,
Kristen Garcia finished her season placing 22nd with a time of 34:35.01. She entered the event seeded 15th. The junior set the program record at the Stanford Invite on April 2 at 33:27.49.
Grace Forbes of Rice placed first crossing the line at 33:35.30. The top 12 finishers in the 48-runner field advanced to the national final in Eugene, Ore. The 12th-place finisher Thursday, Utah Valley's Hannah Branch had a time of 34:00.23.
Gonzaga's
Cooper Laird and
Cullen McEachern compete in the men's 3,000m steeplechase quarterfinals Friday. Laird runs in the first of three heats at 3:40 p.m. PT. McEachern is in Heat 3.
Evan Bates and
James Mwaura are in the men's 5,000m semifinals at 6:10 p.m.
A live broadcast of the NCAA West Prelims is available on SEC Network Plus, with live results on GoZags.com.
