Track: Willow Collins’ 1500m Highlights Final Night at Bryan Clay

Thursday, April 11

Azusa, CA

Gonzaga University

Bryan Clay Invitational

Track: Willow Collins’ 1500m Highlights Final Night at Bryan Clay

4/14/2024 12:08:00 AM | Track and Field

Bryan Clay Invitational Results

She ran a 4:20.32 in her first-ever 1500m, the third-fastest time in program history

AZUSA, Calif. – Gonzaga track concluded their racing at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Saturday at Cougar Athletic Stadium. The 1500m was the highlight event of the day, lasting from the early evening through midnight early Sunday morning.

Mason Kissell took the track early on Saturday in the final heats of the 5000m event, earning some confidence on top of a 14:26.53 PR to take fourth in his heat.

The Zags had the majority of the day off before returning to the rubber Sunday evening to kick off the 1500m. Willow Collins made some noise in the women's invite portion of the day, notching a 4:20.32 PR and third-fastest time in program history in her outdoor 1500m debut. Two hours later, it was Anna Lanigan who earned a PR of her own, a 4:32.45 finish.

In the final heats late Saturday night, Nick Braz (3:50.68), Carp Mukai (3:52.37), and Tommy O'Neil (3:50.84) each earned their second PRs of the meet to wrap up Gonzaga's weekend at Cougar Athletic Stadium.

UP NEXT
Gonzaga will get a week off from competition before heading to the Midwest for the Drake Relays Apr. 24-27 in Des Moines, Iowa. That same weekend, the men will send runners down to the Payton Jordan Invitational back at Stanford, while the women will send some off to the Oregon State High Performance Meet in Corvallis. Follow @ZagRunning on social media, and check gozags.com for the latest updates and live results.

FRIDAY – BRYAN CLAY DAY TWO
Gonzaga men's and women's track continued at the Bryan Clay Invitational on Friday, competing in the 10,000m, 5,000m, and 800m on day two.

Ansel Tucker and Will Thorsett led off for the Zags in the early morning 10K, their first-ever attempts in the event. Tucker ran a 30:20.45 and Thorsett ran a 30:44.51 in their debuts.

The 800m kicked off in the early afternoon with Carp Mukai and Sam Geiger marking similar PR times and new program top five placements. Geiger placed fifth in heat five with a 1:51.51 PR (fourth-fastest program time), while Mukai won heat ten with a new PR of 1:51.49 (third-fastest program time). Tommy O'Neil, despite dodging a collision at the start, ran a PR 1:54.02 in heat 16 to complete a perfect PR sweep for the men.

Bailee Carr and Emma Larson went next for the women. Carr continued to move up in the GU ranks with her third Gonzaga PR of the season, a 2:09.60 that is second-fastest behind Ellie Armbruster's 2:08.97 set at Whitworth less than a month ago. Carr's time is just the second sub-2:10 time in program history. Emma Larson also set a new PR in the 800m with a 2:16.84 finish.

The 5000m races ran throughout the day on Friday, as the men and women alternated heats late into the night. Aidan Baughan led off for the men with a 14:26.55 PR time. Jacob Alfonso (14:18.81), Drew Kolodge (14:40.66), and Wil Smith (13:47.6) narrowly missed PRs later Friday evening.

Anna Grabowski was the first Zag woman on the track for the 5000m, setting time of 16:46.45 in her 5K debut.

In one of the final 5K heats of the night, Bryce Cerkowniak put up an impressive performance with a 30-second PR time of 13:49.56, the new fourth fastest 5K time in program history.

THURSDAY – BRYAN CLAY DAY ONE
The first day of the Bryan Clay Invitational began on Thursday as Gonzaga competed in the men's and women's 3000m Steeplechase at Cougar Athletic Stadium on Azusa Pacific's campus.

Jessica Frydenlund was first up for the women, posting a 10:32.27 in the second-fastest of five heats, a time that just missed her PR time set two weeks ago at Stanford.

For the men, Paul Talens nearly broke nine minutes after posting a time of 9:00.89.

In the invitational heats of the men's 3000m steeple, Cooper Laird set a new PR and moved up one spot to number four in the program top ten list. Laird set a new personal best mark of 8:49.12, a one-and-a-half second improvement of his previous best (8:50.88) set in Eugene last year at the Oregon Relays.