Zags finish second in both races at West Coast Conference for first time since 1995...
It was a busy Friday, with four of Washington's five NCAA Division I schools competing in their respective conference championship meets, and here's how it all went down:
ZAGS RACE TO IDENTICAL SECOND PLACE FINISHES AT WCC...
US Olympic Trials 10000m qualifier James Mwaura (Paul Merca photo) led the way for the Zags in the men's 8k race, finishing second in a time of 23:18, 17 seconds behind defending NCAA cross country champion Conner Mantz of Brigham Young.
"James has been training really hard," Gonzaga men's head coach Pat Tyson said. "He battled hard today, he just happened to go up against the guy who may be the best runner in America. James always puts himself in the mix, and Conner has worked extremely hard to win that today."
Behind Mwaura were Cullen McEachern in 6th at 23:44, Wil Smith in 7th at 23:45, Kyle Radosevich in 16th at 24:05, and Evan Bates in 19th at 24:17.
BYU won the team title with a 24-50 margin over Gonzaga, as the Cougars placed all five scoring runners inside the top 11.
For the second meet in a row, the Bulldogs were without the services of Yacine Guemali, who was the Zags' top runner going into the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational two weeks ago.
Like the men, the Zags placed all five scorers inside the top 20, with Alicia Anderson the third runner in, placing 16th in 21:08. She was followed by Rosina Machu in 17th at 21:15, and Sadie Tuckwood in 20th at 21:23.
BYU won the team title by a 21-64 score over Gonzaga, led by individual winner Whittni Orton's 20:01. The Cougs placed all five scorers inside the top eight.
"Incredible day for our program," said Bulldog women's coach Jake Stewart. "We felt like if we ran the race plan we put together second was attainable. And to go out and execute, I'm so proud of this team."
The results of the WCC championships are available here.
NEWCOMERS FAY & LUND LEAD DAWGS AT PAC-12S...
In Salt Lake City, two runners who were not part of the Washington program last season led the way for the Huskies, as the Husky men's squad replicated its 2020 Pac-12 Conference third place finish at the Regional Athletic Complex Friday morning.
At the end of the first of four laps in the 8k race, Fay was in the second group of runners in 26th place, going through in 5:52, two seconds behind Lumb, who was in 14th.
With four kilometers down and four to go, Fay, a 8:29.75 steeplechaser and a 3:58.91 miler in Ireland, worked his way up to 20th, pulling along younger teammates Leo Daschbach, Joe Waskom and Luke Houser, while Lumb moved up two spots to 12th.
On the third lap, Lumb moved into 9th and Fay to 12th, while Oregon's top two runners, Aaron Bienenfeld and NCAA 5000m champ Cooper Teare found themselves in 3rd and 4th after running in the lead for the first two laps.
Fay made his final push on the last lap, passing three runners, including Lumb, to cross the line in ninth in 24:01, with Lumb tenth in 24:10.
Daschbach finished 14th in 24:14, while Houser was 16th in 24:20, and Waskom rounded out the Husky scorers in 19th at 24:35, as the Huskies finished third with 68 points.
Stanford's Charles Hicks took the individual title, pulling away from Teare with 300 meters to go, clocking 23:35 to Teare's 23:45, while reigning Pac-12 champ Eduardo Herrera was third in 23:46.
Colorado put six runners in the top 13 to win the Pac-12 title with 39, edging out Stanford's 52 points.
Washington State was fifth with 146, led by Amir Ado in 18th place, running 24:31. Behind Ado were Felix Wammetsberger in 28th at 25:01, Zach Stallings in 32nd at 25:09, Matthew Watkins in 38th at 25:25, and Sam Griffith in 45th at 25:46.
In the women's 6k, all eyes were on Washington's Haley Herberg, who won the 2020 title in March, when she took the race out by opening a big gap after the first of three laps at Chambers Creek Park and never looked back.
After the first of three laps, Herberg was up front, but the field wised up, as a group of eight other runners were right behind her.
By the time the second lap of the Regional Athletic Complex course was completed, the defending champion found herself in 12th position, as a group of four runners--Emily Venters of host Utah, Emily Covert and Abby Nichols of Colorado, and Zofia Dudek of Stanford--opened a gap on the rest of the field, crossing 4k at 13:48.
On the final lap, Nichols and Covert pulled away to finish 1-2 in 20:26 and 20:37 to lead Colorado to the team title, winning 24-52 over Utah.
Oregon used a strong final lap to take third with 92 points, relegating the Huskies to fourth with 107 points, while Washington State ended up seventh with 179 points.
Herberg rallied to finish eighth in 21:00. The other Husky scorers were Sophie Cantine in 21st at 21:31, Andrea Markezich in 23rd at 21:32, Allie Schadler in 27th at 21:38, and Sophie O'Sullivan in 31st at 21:46.
Schadler may have been a victim of the 4226-foot altitude of Salt Lake City, as the 2020 cross country All-American dropped 16 places in the final lap and struggled to get across the finish line.
Washington State was led by Neema Kimtai's 19th place finish in 21:24, followed by Caroline Jerotich in 29th at 21:46.
Alaina Stone Boggs in 34th at 21:49, Zorana Grujic in 59th at 22:51, and Pia Richards in 60th at 22:52 rounded out the Cougar scorers.
The link to results of the Pac-12 championships is available here.
ROUGH DAY FOR EAGLES AT BIG SKY...
In Hillsboro, Oregon, the Eastern Washington men finished eighth, while the Eagle women finished eleventh at the Big Sky Conference cross country championships Friday at the Meriweather National Golf Course.
The Eagles scored 217 points in the men's 8k race, led by Justin Roosma, who finished 16th in a time of 24:18. He was followed by Noah Hasselblad, who was 44th in 25:14, and Carter Ledwith in 45th at 25:20.
Drew Bosley of defending NCAA champion Northern Arizona won the race in 23:16, as the Lumberjacks took yet another team title with 30 points, placing all five scorers in the top 15.
In the women's 5k race, Eastern was led by Nicole DeHerrera in 50th at 18:16. Jasmin Muneton was 54th in 18:19, and Jenni Bissell was 65th in 18:42.
Like the men's race, it was all Northern Arizona, with the Lumberjacks scoring 37 points to top Weber State, who scored 51 points.
Taryn O'Neill led the way for NAU, winning the race in 16:32, as all five scorers finished in the top 12.
The results of the Big Sky championships are available here.
NOTE: The Pac-12, West Coast Conference, and the Big Sky Conference contributed to this report.
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