FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Gonzaga's Rosina Machu nearly qualified for the women's 5,000-meter national final just two days after advancing to the 10,000-meter national final at the NCAA West Preliminary Round at John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas.
 
Machu placed 14^th overall in the 5K semifinal Saturday with a time of 16:08.93. She was eighth in the second heat. The top five finishers, along with the next two best times, advanced to the national final. The last qualifying time was Oregon's Silan Ayyildiz at 16:05.82 in 12^th place.
 
Machu entered the race seeded 10^th in the second heat with a program record time of 15:41.46. The Boise, Idaho, native ran that record time at the prestigious Drake Relays on April 24.
 
Willow Collins placed 16^th in the first heat with a time of 17:01.33. In her first appearance at the prelims, the junior came in seeded 14^th with the second-fastest time program history, 15:53.41, ran at the Stanford Invitational on March 29.
 
Jessica Frydenlund became the first Zag freshman to qualify for the NCAA Preliminary Round in program history. She placed 11^th in the second heat, and 39^th overall, with a time of 10:53.69. The Anacortes, Wash., native, entered the race seeded 16^th in her heat following a 10:22.64 qualifying time at the Portland Distance Carnival on May 11. That time ranks second all-time at GU.
 
Machu and Wil Smith will represent Gonzaga at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Eugene, Ore. This will be the first time ever that Gonzaga will have multiple participants at the national championships.
 
Machu runs in the women's 10,000-meter national final on June 6 at 8:08 p.m. Smith is in the men's 5,000-meter national final June 7 at 7:55 p.m. Both days will be broadcast live on ESPN2.