SACRAMENTO, Calif. – James Mwaura qualified for NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5,000m to highlight Gonzaga's Day Three at NCAA West Prelims on Friday evening, making it the second time in his career that he's reached the NCAA Final in both the 5K and 10K.
Mwaura, who already became the first Zag to reach an NCAA Final three times with his 10K qualification on Wednesday, finished fourth in his heat (10th overall) with a 13:38.82 time to take one of ten automatic qualifying spots and punch his ticket to Austin yet again. Mwaura led the race through the ninth and tenth laps before eventual 1-2-3 finishers Nico Young (Northern Arizona), Casey Clinger (BYU) and Sam Gilman (Air Force) surged ahead and separated themselves from a crowded pack over the final 800m, holding on to cross the finish line in fourth with any challengers a healthy distance behind and one of five automatic spots in hand.
"I felt lactate taking over my body with 300 meters to go and just told myself to keep good form, stay relaxed, and get through the finish line," Mwaura said.
He becomes the first Zag to qualify for an NCAA Final in multiple events more than once, and one of only four athletes in this year's prelims to qualify in both the 10K and 5K -- the others are Stanford's Charlie Hicks and Ky Robinson and BYU's Casey Clinger.
Fellow Zag
Wil Smith, also racing in his second event of the week but in his first-ever Prelims appearance, spent much of the race in qualifying territory and stayed in the hunt despite plenty of movement amongst the pack but fell from sixth to 14th over the final 800m as things heated up. He finished in 13:55.99, good for 26th overall.
"Smith ran incredibly tough throughout the race," Tyson said. "Like Mwaura, his face showed deep underlying grit. Invaluable experience for Wil -- he's incredibly competitive and hates to lose. He'll be back!"
The duo hold the No. 1 and No. 2 times in program history in the 5,000m, thanks to Mwaura's 13:30.02 personal best at last year's Oregon Relays and Smith's 13:40.40 finish at the Bryan Clay Invite this spring. Friday's race concludes a grueling stretch for both runners that saw them each run 37.5 laps against elite competition over the span of 48 hours.
"I wasn't happy about my finish but felt like I managed it much better than Wednesday night's 10K," Smith said.
In the first action of the day in the Men's 3,000m Steeplechase Quarterfinals,
Cullen McEachern put down a six-second PR on the biggest stage of his GU career, finishing in 8:40.98 to place seventh in his heat and 17th overall. McEachern closed with his fastest lap of the night (1:06.38), the fifth-fastest final 400m of his heat.
"I felt not perfect, but not bad throughout the race," said McEachern. "In hindsight I should have dug a little deeper with three laps to go. Still, I fought hard and closed in 66.83."
Combined, the three heats in Friday's competition produced the fastest regional all-time depth ever, with 22 runners putting down sub-8:45 times and 20 of them being personal bests.
"It reminded me of an NCAA final," said coach Pat Tyson.
Sophomore
Cooper Laird finished 15th in the second heat and 42nd overall with a 9:09.14 time in his second appearance at NCAA Prelims.
You can't buy competing in NCAA competition," Tyson said. "You've got to earn it! You've got to taste it! Cooper is motivated and we are lucky he has two more years.
UP NEXT / FOLLOW THE ACTION
Rosina Machu closes out Gonzaga's final day at NCAA West Prelims tomorrow at 8:10 p.m. in the first heat of the Women's 5,000M, the event in which she broke the program record this spring with a 16:03.77 finish at the Bryan Clay Invite on April 14.
All four days of the NCAA West Preliminaries will be broadcast live via ESPN+ on WatchESPN. Live results will be available through GoZags.com -- follow @ZagRunning on Instagram and Twitter for live updates, highlights and more.
