FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gonzaga's Wil Smith advanced to the men's 5,000-meter national final with a third-place semifinal finish at the NCAA West Preliminary Round at John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas Friday.
 
Smith crossed the line at 13:46.57, while teammate Bryce Cerkowniak was 29^th overall and 15^th in his heat with a time of 14:25.15.
 
"Wow, less than 48 hours after running a tough 2- lap 10K, Wil executed a perfect 5000-meter race to finish third in his heat and third overall to qualify for the NCAA finals in two weeks at storied Hayward Field," Gonzaga Director of Track and Field Pat Tyson said. "Wil is now the third Gonzaga Bulldog to get to the highest collegiate level of competition on the men's side. He joins All-Americans Troy Fraley in the steeplechase in 2017 and James Mwaura the 10K and 5K in 2021, the 10K in 2022, and the 10K and 5K in 2023.
 
"Wil was 2.07 seconds from the win. He never doubted that he wouldn't qualify, but so challenging to do what he did after his very tough non qualifying 10K. It's going to be fun in Eugene. My bet is Gonzaga will have a huge traveling party in attendance!"
 
Smith entered the race seeded 20^th in his heat after running a 13:47.06 qualifying time at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 11. His personal best, 13:40.40 ran last season, ranks second all-time at GU.
 
Cerkowniak came in seeded sixth in his heat with a time of 13:49.56, which ranks fourth in program history, also ran at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
 
"In heat two of the 5K is redshirt sophomore Bryce Cerkowniak," Tyson said. "How Bryce could do what he did after a nice competitive 10K just two nights earlier, was not bad for coming in as a No. 44 seed. I'm so excited for these guys!"
 
Earlier in the afternoon, Cooper Laird placed 35^th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:14.60. He was 10^th in the second heat. The junior's seed time was 8:49.12, which is fourth in Gonzaga history.
 
Jessica Frydenlund opens Saturday's schedule for Gonzaga in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase quarterfinals at 3:40 p.m. Pacific Time. Willow Collins and Rosina Machu run in the 5,000-meter national semifinal at 6:10. The races will be broadcast live on ESPN Plus, with live results on GoZags.com.