AZUSA, Calif. – Rosina Machu broke the Gonzaga program record in her first collegiate 5,000m race on the outdoor oval and
Wil Smith followed with the second-fastest men's 5,000m in program history and a likely NCAA qualifying time to lead Gonzaga Men's and Women's Track's showing on Day Two of the Bryan Clay Invite on Friday, with a combined 12 personal bests and five new all-time Top 10 finishes between the two squads.
Machu's record-breaking time comes two weeks after
Kristen Garcia – the previous 5K record holder – shattered the 10K program record by more than 26 seconds at the Stanford Invitational on April 1. In her first collegiate outdoor track season, Machu has now ran the fastest 3,000m and 5,000m races in program history. Smith's finish gives the Zag men another likely NCAA qualifying time after
James Mwaura's 28:39.50 10K finish at the Mt. SAC Relays the night previous secured him a probable third-straight NCAA prelims appearance.
The Zag women got things started with a pair of all-time Top 10 performances from
Makenna Edwards in the 10K and
Ellie Armbruster in the 800m, with Edwards putting down a 35:56.06 time for the seventh-fastest finish in program history and Armbruster finishing in 2:11.56 for the third-fastest all-time.
To kick off the open heats of the women's 5K,
Jasmine Nguyen (18:00.35) placed 31st in heat one and
Kate Donaldson followed with a 17:42.88 time in her first collegiate outdoor 5K for 28th in heat two.
Up next, four Zag men's runners recorded personal bests in the open competition of the Men's 5,000m, all of which were by more than six seconds. Starting things off,
Cooper Laird (14:16.89) and
Bryce Cerkowniak (14:23.62) both put down personal bests en route to a 1-2 finish in the first heat – Laird PR'd by more than 15 seconds, with Cerkowniak improving his time by 6 seconds. In the second open heat,
Ansel Tucker (14:31.28) finished 11th with a personal best of his own, PR'ing for the second competition in a row after shaving five seconds off his 14:36.38 time from the Stanford Invitational. Nicola DiMartino (14:48.33) finished 22nd in the same heat.
In his first outdoor track race since last May,
Kyle Radosevich (14:11.49) rounded things out in the final open 5,000m heat with yet another PR – this one by seven seconds – to take third. He took the lead entering the final 400 meters, but was passed late by South Dakota State's Cody Larson and Colorado Christian's Isaac Russo.
Representing the GU women in the final 5K open heat,
Brittney Hansen (24th, 16:59.30) shaved more than 14 seconds off her previous best of 17:14.44, set at the same track almost exactly a year ago at last season's Bryan Clay Invite.
Yacine Guermali opened up the 5K invitational heats with a 13:52.32 time that was less than two seconds away from his previous personal best that ranks as the fourth-fastest in program history, placing 20th. Guermali's finish ranks No. 28 on the NCAA West Qualifying list, with potential to earn him a spot at NCAA West Prelims in Sacramento, Calif. On May 24-27.
Rosina Machu made sure the Zag women weren't done rewriting the record books just yet, setting a new program record in the outdoor 5,000m with a 16:03.77 finish in her first collegiate 5K on the outdoor oval. Machu's time would rank 14th on the current West Region qualifying list as of Friday.
In the next race,
Wil Smith followed with another all-time PR in the second men's invite heat, putting down a 13:40.40 time that ranks No. 2 on the Men's Top 10 list. Smith improved his previous best – a 13:50.31 performance at last year's Oregon Relays – by nearly 10 seconds. Smith's time will qualify him for NCAA West Prelims, the second qualifying time he's put down this season after finishing with a 28:24.03 10K time at the Stanford Invitational that ranks No. 10 among West Region athletes. Smith's 5K time would rank 11th on the West Region 5K list as of Friday.
Caramia Mestler was the last women's competitor of the day in the third invite women's 5K heat, with Mestler finishing 13th overall with a 16:26.52 time. In the final men's heat,
Cullen McEachern (13:59.00) and
Evan Bates (14:23.83) finished 11th and 17th, respectively, with McEachern adding yet another personal best to the Zags' haul with a time that placed him tenth on the all-time list. McEachern, whose 3000m steeplechase time its at No. 15 in the West, opened the race at a blistering pace, finishing his first 3200m in 8:54.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The final day of competition for GU at Bryan Clay begins tomorrow, with the GU women set to open things up in the 400m before both squads compete in the 1500m. Live results and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagRunning on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
