AZUSA, Calif. – Ellie Armbruster strengthened her grip on the program 400m record to start things off, two other Zags put down all-time Top 10 times and 10 improved their personal bests to conclude the final day of competition for Gonzaga Men's and Women's track at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Saturday.
Between the two programs on the weekend, eight GU runners finished with event performances that moved their name up in the all-time Top 10 list, with 22 new personal bests.
In the first GU performance of the day, Armbruster shaved 0.77 seconds off her previous best – set at the Buc Scoring Invite in Spokane on March 23 – to solidify her program record. This is the third time she's improved her 400m time since first breaking the record as a true freshman at the Sam Adams Classic in 2022.
Sadie Tuckwood and Wil Smith both followed later in the night with 1500m PR's that both moved them up in their respective all-time Top 10 list at fourth and ninth. Both runners already had their names in the GU record books — Tuckwood has the seventh-fastest 800m in program history and was already No. 5 on the 1500m list, and Smith has put down the second-fastest 10K and 5K in program history this season.
Five GU men's runners competed in the "B" heat of the open 1500m, with Jaxon Mackie (3:51.58) leading the way with a 3-second PR and 24th-place finish ahead of Ansel Tucker (27th, 3:51.75), Bryce Cerkowniak (91st, 3:55.30) and Nicky DiMartino (165th, 3:59.33). Tucker shaved more than five seconds off his previous best, and DiMartino narrowly PR'd by 0.07 seconds. Mackie finished ninth in a competitive heat that had only a 1.58-second difference between places one through six.
Alicia Anderson (95th, 4:23.13) and Kristen Garcia (128th, 4:26.88) paced the GU women in the invitational 1500m, finishing 13th and ninth in their respective heats.
In the men's invite-only 1500m race, Wil Smith followed up a near miss on the 5K program record on Saturday night with another all-time Top 10 performance, rallying from eighth place in a crowded field to finish third in the eighth heat with a new personal best of 3:46.94. Smith's finish moved him into No. 9 on the Zags' all-time list.
Immediately following Smith's race, 1500m program record-holder Yacine Guermali finished fourth in invite heat No. 9 with a 3:43.97 time that was just half of a second slower than his personal best.
Sadie Tuckwood PR'd to lead the way in the final go-round of the women's 1500m, crossing the finish line in 4:27.63 to move to No. 4 on the all-time list and finish 11th overall. Behind her, Jillian Greene (83rd, 4:34.22), Lucy Klebeck (112th, 4:36.10) and Anna Lanigan (181st, 4:48.86) all finished in order. Greene improved her personal best by more than a second, with Klebeck shaving nine seconds off her previous best.
For the final competition of the day, Cullen McEachern PR'd by two seconds to finish 28th overall and seventh in his heat. McEachern is the first GU runner to put down a sub-9:00 3,000m steeplechase, a sub-3:50 1500m and a sub-14:00 5,000m during his GU career. In that same span, he's also posted a sub-1:55 800m and sub-30:00 cross country 10K.
Behind him, Cooper Laird (61st, 3:49.81), Riley Moore (139th, 3:54.25), Evan Bates (152nd, 3:55.20), Kyle Radosevich (168th, 3:57.50) and Carp Mukai (176th, 3:58.58) concluded GU's weekend in Azusa, with Laird improving his best in the event by more than six seconds.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
The Zags return to California for some more high-profile competition next weekend at the Stanford-hosted Payton Jordan Invitational April 21-22. Live results and streaming options are available on GoZags.com — follow @ZagRunning on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
