Gonzaga's James Mwaura finishes 14th in 10000m as US Olympic Trials opens in TrackTown...

EUGENE--In one of the two finals contested on the first day of competition at the US Olympic Track & Field Trials, Gonzaga's James Mwaura (Paul Merca/TrackTownUSA photo) finished 14th in the men's 10000 meters Friday night at Hayward Field.

Mwaura, a product of Tacoma's Lincoln High School, was only admitted into the Trials on Monday after his initial entry into the meet was denied by USA Track & Field because the school entered him on Thursday the 10th, the morning after he ran 27:50.44 to finish 9th at the NCAA championships, and two days after the entry deadline. 

Despite having raced both the 10000 and the 5000 at last week's NCAA championships here at Hayward Field, the Gonzaga sophomore was not afraid to mix it up with the big boys, including the seven men who held the Olympic standard of 27:25.00, which Mwaura needed to have a chance to go to Tokyo.

In fact, Mwaura took the lead for 2000 meters, leading from 6000 to 8000 meters, before the lead group gradually pulled away from him.

"The pace was slowing down, and I was just trying to maintain the pace," he said.

“I saw some college guys up at the front and I wanted to help them out after running with them last week. It was windy out there, especially on the back stretch. So, I was really just trying to help people out, while getting a PR at the same time. When I was in the front I was just trying to get noticed. I wanted to see what it felt like to be in the front. Maybe in three years I’ll be back in the front and I wanted to get experience now.”

“Assistant Coach Andrew Gardner and I felt like the racing tactics were perfect for James,” Director of GU Track and Field Pat Tyson said. “If you think about this, he just ran 37 and a half laps last week, so in a 10-day window he ran 50 or so laps. And, he held together pretty darn well. We are nothing but proud of him.”

Other than the 10000 and the shot put, Friday's competition consisted of qualifying rounds.

Among athletes with Washington ties who advanced Friday included Washington State alum Brock Eager, who threw 240-8 (73.37m) in the hammer; Karisa Nelson of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts (4:13.98) & Washington alum Eleanor Fulton (4:14.41) in the 1500; Brannon Kidder (1:45.06, Olympic qualifying standard) & Drew Windle (1:48.41) in the 800; Washington State alum Kiana Davis (43-1.75/13.15m) in the triple jump; and, Allie Buchalski of the Brooks Beasts (15:32.35) in the 5000.

Jonah Wilson of the University of Washington in the shot put (60-8.5/18.50m), Camas' Alexa Efraimson (4:16.70) in the 1500; Tacoma's Marcus Chambers in the 400 (46.30), and Federal Way HS alum Hannah Cunliffe (11.21) in the 100 meters did not advance.

RYAN CROUSER DESTROYS WORLD RECORD IN SHOT PUT...

Speaking of the shot put, Ryan Crouser (Paul Merca/TrackTownUSA photo) threw the shot 76-8.25 (23.37m) to break the long standing world and American of of 75-10 1/4 (23.12) held by Randy Barnes since May 20, 1990 in one of the most scintillating shot put competitions.

The competition was such that the top five threw at least 71-8 (21.84m) or further, and it took 71-11 (21.92m) by Payton Otterdahl to make the team, with reigning world champion Joe Kovacs second at 73-3.5 (22.34m).

Saturday, Washington alum Denham Patricelli goes in the javelin qualifying at 2:15pm, while Karisa Nelson and Eleanor Fulton run in the 1500 meter semis at 6:40 pm.

Brannon Kidder and Drew Windle close out Saturday's competition in the 800 meter semis at 7:04 pm.

Results of day 1 along with the heat sheets are available here.

NOTE: NBC Sports, TrackTown USA and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.

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