Track Travels to Moscow Friday

Gonzaga's senior student-athletes were honored at the Evening of Excellence banquet.

1/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field

MEET INFORMATION ENTRIES

SPOKANE, Wash. - For the third consecutive year, the Gonzaga women's and men's track teams travel to Moscow, Idaho, for the Idaho Collegiate meet in their second week of the indoor season.

Friday's meet inside the Kibbie Dome will feature 34 Zags, some competing for the first time this year. The Idaho Collegiate serves as a nice warm-up for some inexperienced runners and some working back from injuries.

"We will be traveling many athletes who did not compete last Saturday and holding out a few of those who competed at the UW Preview," GU Women's Head Coach Patty Ley said. "We will look to see those other athletes to step up this weekend and test their fitness."

"Like University of Washington's Dempsey track (307 meters), the Kibbie Dome is a huge oval (290 meters)," Director of Gonzaga's track program Pat Tyson said. "It does not have the bounce that can lead to world class marks, but it still is a place where an athlete can run fast."

After finishing in the top 20 in the women's 3,000 meters last week in Seattle, Amelia Evans enters with the top entry time in the 3,000 and the mile this week. She finished the 3,000 at the UW Preview in 9:53.66 and is joined by teammate, Maggie Jones, with 10:00.00 entry times at the Idaho Collegiate. Evans top entry time in the mile is 5:00.0.

Olivia Evans, Corrine Murray, and Alison Fraher join Amelia Evans and Jones in the mile Friday. Fraher ran a personal record of 5:26.26 in the event at the meet last year. Amelia Evans, Jones, Katy Culver, Christina Winters, Julie Henling, Christina Tyson, and Murray are all entries in the 3,000 meters. Winters placed eighth in the 3,000 last year in Moscow.

Gonzaga dominates the men's 3,000-meter field. The Bulldogs have 12 entries in Friday's race. Robert Walgren, Troy Fraley, Nick Roche and Ned Fischer top a field of 37 runners. Walgren's entry time of 8:20.53 is the fastest in the field.

Last week in Seattle, Fraley raced to the fourth fastest time in GU history in 3,000 at 8:21.77. He shaved 18 seconds off of his personal record. Willie Milam broke his own school record in the event at 8:07.66. The time is currently the sixth fastest in NCAA Div. I. However, the senior will not race this week.

"To come off of Christmas break, back into the cold weather, and tough academic environment and run as well as our athletes did last weekend is really a validation on how tough these guys are," Tyson said. "They are dialed into competing at a high level despite the challenges."

The meet begins at 10 a.m. Friday. Gonzaga's first event will be the women's mile at 12 p.m. The Zags final event, the men's 3,000, is scheduled for a 3:50 p.m. start. Results will be posted on GoZags.com as soon as they are available following the meet.

"We should see a good mix of athletes at the meet where we should be competitive within our heats, but also have to raise our level of competition to be in the thick of things," Ley said.