Track: Wind Prevails at Mike Keller Invite
3/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
MOSCOW, Idaho - The Gonzaga women's and men's track programs raced against tough competition and heavy winds at the Mike Keller Invitational Saturday.
"Zag runners had to deal with a Jack London-like novel in competing not only against athletes from the likes of Idaho, Washington State, and Lewis & Clark State, but a man versus nature 30-40 mile-per-hour prevailing chilly wind that never went away during the three to four hour competition," GU Director of Track Pat Tyson said.
"The weather was really rough," Gonzaga women's track Head Coach Patty Let added. "Steady high winds made it tough on the backstretch. It blew over speakers and forced the pole vault to be postponed until Sunday."
In the men's 5,000 meters, Troy Fraley led a Bulldog sweep of the top four spots. He crossed the line at 15:29.79. Max Kaderabek finished second at 15:53.79. Jack Pearce and Braeden Van Deynze followed closely behind at 15:56.69 and 16:02.23.
Gonzaga had the same success in the 800 meters. Andy Phillips placed first with a time of 1:59.69. Kinsly Smith edged out Brandon Pollard and Graham Wendle for second at 2:00.57. Pollard and Wendle finished with times of 2:01.44 and 2:01.72.
The GU men's 4x400-meter "A" relay team beat out the "B" team for first. Pollard, Wendle, Smith, and Phillips finished with a time of 3:37.08. The foursome of Dan Amann, Mitchell Beard, Willie Milam, and Jerry Sicalo had a time of 3:45.06.
Maggie Jones won the women's 3,000 meters. She crossed the line at 10:13.76. Claren Fraher placed second in the 800 meters at 2:25.76. Amelia Evans had a third place finish in the 1,500 meters (4:56.29).
Alison Fraher won her heat of the 1,500 meters. She led the race for its entirety and held off an Idaho runner during the final 500 meters for the exciting win.
"It was a good competitive day for the Gonzaga track team, especially since several key runners were held out to get ready for Stanford and San Francisco State next Friday," Tyson said.
The Zags will split its squad between the San Francisco State Distance Carnival and Stanford Invitational on Friday and Saturday, and locally at the Sam Adams Classic at Whitworth University Saturday.
"Hopefully the weather breaks a little better for us next week, and the athletes get to use the work they have been putting in these last few weeks," Ley said.
