Gonzaga University
NCAA West Preliminary Round - Day One
Zags Track Set to Open NCAA West Preliminaries on Wednesday
5/24/2022 9:03:00 AM | Track and Field
Three Gonzaga women's runners and four men's runners are set to begin competition at the NCAA West Regional Preliminaries in Fayetteville, Ark. on Wednesday, including repeat qualifiers Kristen Garcia in the 10K and James Mwaura in the 10K and 5K.
This will be Garcia's second year at regionals but first competing in the 10K after qualifying in the 5 last season. Mwaura competed in the 10K and 5K last year, advancing to nationals in both races. The total of seven qualifiers matches a program-best for GU.
Evan Bates will join Mwaura in the 5K race, and Cooper Laird and Cullen McEachern round out the men's selections with qualifying times in the 3K Steeplechase.
Joining Garcia on the women's side will be Elisabeth Danis and Alicia Anderson in the 5K with Anderson also competing in the 1500m. Both will be making their first regional appearances in a Zag uniform next weekend.
Student-athletes with the top 12 times or marks and the best 12 relay teams at both the East and West Preliminary Rounds sites will qualify for the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. June 8-11.
Garcia is seeded 15th in the 10K, an event in which she set the program record at the Stanford Invite on April 2 for her seed time of 33:27.49. Danis' seed time of 16:09.07 from the Bryan Clay Invite ranks as the second-fastest in program history and 27th in the field, with Anderson's 47th-ranked seed time of 16:15.23 just behind as the third fastest by a Zag and her 32nd-ranked 1500m time of 4:21.68 standing as the second-fastest in program history.
On the men's side, Mwaura leads the pack with the 13th-seeded 5K time in the region at 13:30.02 and the 16th-seeded 10K time at 28:29.01 — both program records set at Oregon's Hayward Field, the site of the upcoming 2022 National Championships. Bates is seeded 40th with a 13:45.04 time from the Oregon Relays that ranks as the second fastest in program history. McEachern's 23rd-seeded 8:46.36 time and Laird's 43rd-ranked time of 8:50.88 round out the Zags' qualifiers in the steeplechase.
Schedule of Events
Wednesday
7:10 p.m. PT - Men's 10,000m Semifinals - James Mwaura
Thursday
4:30 p.m. PT - Women's 1,500m First Round - Alicia Anderson
7:10 p.m. PT - Women's 10,000m Semifinals - Kristen Garcia
Friday
3:40 p.m. PT - Men's 3,000m steeplechase Quarterfinals - Cooper Laird and Cullen McEachern
6:10 p.m. PT - Men's 5,000m Semifinals - Evan Bates and James Mwaura
Saturday
3:15 p.m. PT - Women's 1,500m Quarterfinals - Alicia Anderson
6:10 p.m. PT - Women's 5,000m Semifinals - Elisabeth Danis and Alicia Anderson
Follow the Races
The NCAA West Preliminaries will be broadcast live on the SEC Network, with a live stream on WatchESPN. Live results will be available through GoZags.com.
