Runners Amann, Fraley, Garrard Headed To Gonzaga This Fall
6/16/2013 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
"This is a very promising group of young Zags coming to join many who are not graduating to continue this young, new Gonzaga machine. It is just going to keep going because it's fueled well," Tyson said.
| Danny Amann | ||
| Cross Country/800M/5000M/10,000M | Deer Park, Wash. | Deer Park |
Gonzaga head coach Pat Tyson is glad he made the switch. "He's a local guy who won the Jack Mooberry Featured Mile at the Mooberry Relays. He won in 4:17.63 in windy conditions. He's a blue chip athlete," Tyson said. Amann finished eighth in the Washington State 2A Cross Country Championship this past fall in 15:47.9, was sixth as a junior in 15:45.6 in helping the Stags to third place and was 29th as a sophomore in 4:12.96. In track he holds the school record of 1:54.54 for 800 meters, setting that mark earlier this spring in finishing third in the State 2A Track and Field Meet, and 4:12.20 for 1600 meters set in 2012. In addition to finishing third at State in the 800, he was 11th in the 3200 meters in 9:44.75 as Deer Park, a two-time Great Northern League champion, finished seventh in the State 2A Meet. In his inaugural 1600 meter race as a junior he ran 4:22.69 and went on to finish third in the State 2A Meet in 4:12.17 while also taking fifth in the 3200 meters in 9:18.06. | ||
| Troy Fraley | ||
| Cross Country/5000M/10,000M | Kalispell, Mont. | Glacier |
"There's never been a cross country runner who attended Gonzaga with his credentials. Troy was second at the Foot Locker West Championships at Mt. San Antonio, getting 18th out of 40 and he wasn't that far behind some really high end runners who are going off to Colorado, Oregon, Air Force Academy," Tyson said. "Troy is the best recruited cross country runner." Does he have great track marks? No. Generally you aren't running super fast in the altitudes and weather you have in Montana. But he's a good one." The future of Gonzaga's program is what drew him to the Zags, according to Tyson. "He told loved me he's excited to be a part of Gonzaga. He's a great student. He said he loved the team chemistry, the trails around Spokane, the small class ratio. He wants to get into human physiology. He likes the buzz of where we're headed and wants to be a part of it. I'm excited. He is a blue chip. He was recruited heavily by Washington and other schools. We're lucky we landed him." Tyson said Fraley "will help cross country right off the bat, but he is a 5, 10 thousand kind of guy. He's not a prancey race horse. He's more of a go to work, bring your lunch pail type of kid who will contribute because he loves to compete, loves to work. He loves hills, loves trails and is a Kalispell kid used to snow-in-your-face in the winter and the wind." Fraley finished third in the Montana State AA Cross Country Meet last fall in 15:25, was fifth as a junior in 15:40.82 and 21st as a sophomore in 16:37. Earlier this spring he finished second in the Montana State AA Track and Field Meet 1600 meters in 4:17.22 and in the 3200 meters in 9:20.98. As a junior he was third at State in the 1600 in 4:26.14 and 3200 in 9:20.98, and as a sophomore placed sixth in 4:35.70 and fifth in the 3200 in 9:52.81. After placing second just nine seconds behind the winner at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships West Regional in 15:37, he placed 18th in the nationals held in San Diego, Calif., in 15:42. | ||
| Zac Garrard | ||
| Cross Country/800M/5000M/10,000M | Owensboro, Ky. | Owensboro |
"He's a tough kid. He's one of the top guns in the state of Kentucky. It's great to have a bluegrass guy come out here and taste a little bit of the Inland Northwest," Tyson said. "He's a great student. He turned down some great academic institutions to be at what we consider to be a great academic institution, too. He had some great choices, Vanderbilt being one of them, for example, and we got him." Last fall Garrard finished 25th in the Kentucky State 3A Cross Country Meet in 17:04.83 as Owensboro finished 20th. He was 35th as a junior in 17:32.16 in leading Owensboro to 12th, placed 15th as a sophomore in 16:46.30 as Owensboro finished 17th and was 69th as a freshman in 17:50.83 as the only participant for Owensboro. This past spring he finished third in the 800 meters at the Kentucky Class 3A State Championships in a career-best 1:57.25 and placed seventh in the 1600 meters in 4:26.79. Earlier in the season he took ninth in the Kentucky Dream Mile in Louisville in a PR of 4:22.34. Garrard finished third in the State Class 3A 1600 meters as a sophomore in 4:25.96 and as a freshman claimed 11th in 4:39.17. He also ran the anchor leg on the 4x800 Meter relay team that finished 11th at State in 8:31.95. | ||
