EUGENE, Ore. – In his NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships debut, Wil Smith finished 12th in the 5,000-meter National Final to earn Second Team All-American, becoming the second Zag in as many nights to earn the honor at Hayward Field.
 
"Wil finished Second Team All-American in a race of 24 amazing runners, all who were capable of earning First Team," Head Coach Pat Tyson noted of the race. "In a heavy field of talent, he was right in it. Especially in a race that required being able to deal with 24 bodies within a 10-12-meter pack, I thought he handled it really well."
 
In what was a crowded race for the first 3400m, Smith pushed into the front half of the pack in the final mile to finish in 14:02.70, securing the first All-American nod of his Gonzaga career. Troy Fraley was the first Zag to earn the honor in 2017 before James Mwaura earned five over the span of three years from 2021-2023.
 
Smith's performance on Friday came nearly 24 hours after Rosina Machu earned the first female All-American nod in program history, placing 14th in the 10,000-meter National Final on Thursday.
 
North Carolina's Parker Wolfe kept pace with a surge from Northern Arizona's Nico Young in what turned out to be too early, pulling ahead of Young in the final lap to earn his first collegiate title in 13:54.43.