Gonzaga University
1500m and 10000m
Pollard Advances to 1500 Quarterfinal at NCAA West Prelims
5/23/2019 10:39:00 PM | Track and Field
Senior will run again Saturday with chance to move to national semifinals
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gonzaga's Brandon Pollard became the first Zag in program history to advance to the national quarterfinals in the 1,500 meters with his finish at the NCAA West Preliminary Round Thursday.
Pollard qualified for Saturday's quarterfinals with a 3:45.22 finish in the opening round. The top five runners from the four first round heats advanced, along with the next best four times. Pollard placed fifth in the fourth heat, while the sixth-place finisher, Arkansas' Ethan Moehn crossed the line at 3:45.23. Moehn would qualify with the second-fastest at-large time. The seventh and eighth place runners in the fourth heat also qualified for the quarterfinals based on their finishes.
"I felt composed throughout and just kept believing," Pollard said. "I just wanted it badly enough. That was just step one though, I got more work to do and I'm ready for it. Survive and advance is the name of the game here."
Pollard closed well and stuck with a fast-paced group. His split times were 45.87, 61.82, 60.35 and 56.90. The Sisters, Ore. native ran the last 800 meters at 1:57.25.
Pollard was seeded 19th with a time of 3:44.32. That time ranks second on the GU all-time list. Last year at the West Preliminary Round in Sacramento, Pollard placed 10th in his heat in the first round of the 1,500 meters. His time was 4:06.28 and he finished in 46th place.
In the 10,000 meters, James Mwaura nearly qualified for the national finals in his freshman season. He placed 13th with a new school record time of 29:10.39. The top 12 finishers from the heat advanced to the national championships in Austin, Texas. Colorado's Ryan Forsyth placed 12th at 29:03.07. Mwaura was easily the top freshman finisher.
Mwaura was seeded 35th at 29:15.75. He set the previous school record at the Cardinal Classic on April 20.
Scott Kopczynski ran in the third heat of the 1,500 meters for the Bulldogs. He finished his junior season with a time of 3:50.91, placing eighth in his heat and 41st overall. He made his second straight appearance at the NCAA West Preliminaries. Last season, he placed eighth in his heat, crossing the line at 4:04.09, placing 44th overall. The Spokane native, qualified for this year's prelims with the fifth-fastest time in program history, 3:46.22, at the West Coast Invitational. He was seeded 42nd at this year's Preliminary Round.
"The field is now cut from 48 to 24," Director of GU Track and Field Pat Tyson said. "It was an exciting day in Sacramento! Scott ran tactically well too, but this competition is not about seconds, it's fractions of seconds."
Gonzaga has a pair of runners in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Friday night. Kellen Manley is in the first heat at 9 p.m., followed by Andrew Gardner in Heat 2 at 9:12. Live video and results will be available on GoZags.com.
