Lagat takes sixth at Zurich Weltklasse; Gonzaga men take Clash of the Inland NW team title...

ZURICH, Switzerland—Washington State University alum Bernard Lagat (left/photo by Paul Merca) finished sixth in the men’s 5000 at the Weltklasse meeting, the penultimate stop of the IAAF’s Diamond League tour.

In what was a bit of a strange race, only Evan Jager, the Olympic silver medalist in the 3000 steeplechase from the Portland based Bowerman Track Club, followed the hired pace setters, who were supposed to run in the neighborhood of 13 minutes.

After a few laps, it became apparent that the field was not interested in running fast, leaving Jager along with a lead that grew to around 90 meters.

In the end, Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia ran down Jager over the last 150 meters to win in 13:14.82, with Olympic 5000m silver medalist Paul Chelimo of the US Army WCAP second in 13:16.51, and Jager third in 13:16.86.

Lagat finished in 13:19.73 to take sixth.

Former Puyallup resident Hassan Mead did not finish the race.

You can watch highlights of the race here (may be removed by rights holder):

Lagat moves on to compete in the 3000 meter run at Saturday’s ISTAF meeting in Berlin.


THURSTON WINS WOMEN'S TITLE; BULLDOG MEN TAKE TEAM CROWN AT CLASH OF THE INLAND NORTHWEST

In Moscow, Idaho, Gonzaga’s Jordan Thurston won the women’s 4k race at the season opening Clash of the Inland Northwest cross country meet at the Idaho Golf Course.

Thurston ran 13:41 to beat former Big Sky cross country champ Sarah Reiter of Eastern Washington by five seconds.

Eastern’s Paula Gil Echevarria cracked the top ten, finishing eighth in 14:22.

Gonzaga’s Jessica Mildes, who was the team’s top returning finisher at last year’s NCAA championships in Louisville, was 11th in 14:32.

Idaho won the team title with 28 points, followed by Eastern with 61, then Gonzaga at 64, and Montana with 76.

In the men’s 6k race, Troy Fraley of Gonzaga, competing unattached, was the winner in 18:24, 13 seconds ahead of Gonzaga’s Max Kaderabek.

The Zags had three other runners in the top 10, while freshman Colton Johnsen was Eastern Washington’s top finisher in ninth, in 18:52.

Gonzaga took the men’s team title with 26 points, with host Idaho second with 40.  Eastern Washington was third with 62, while Montana rounded out the field with 104.


NOTE:  The sports information office of Gonzaga University contributed to this report.

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