Fraley a steeplechase All-American

EUGENE, Ore. — Gonzaga junior Troy Fraley finished seventh in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final at the NCAA outdoor track and field national championships on Friday at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon, becoming the first All-American in school history.

Fraley, a 2013 Glacier High School graduate, finished in a personal record 8 minutes, 35.38 seconds to break his own school record by nearly four seconds.

Fraley got caught in traffic at the start of the race and spent his first few laps trying to weave through other runners to get near the front pack. That extra effort kept him from keeping pace with race-leaders Edwin Kibichiy of Louisville and MJ Erb of Mississippi.

Fraley was able to maintain a pace of around 1:09 per lap, and closed with a final lap of 1:06.22 to finish in seventh place.

Kibichiy won the race running away in 8:28.40, beating Georgetown’s Darren Fahy (8:31.08) and Oklahoma’s Dylan Blankenbaker (8:31.17) by nearly two seconds.

Flathead grad Zach Perrin, a junior at Colorado, finished in 11th in the 5,000-meter final later in the night.

The pace started slow in the race, and Perrin opted to stay in clean space in the second lane. By the start of the last lap, he was at the back of the lead pack and made his move late, making up two spots in the final two laps to finish in 14:41.50 and claim second-team All-America status.

Stanford sophomore Grant Fisher won the race in 14:35.60.

Bigfork’s Makena Morley, a freshman at Colorado, finished 17th in the women’s 10,000 meters on Thursday.

NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Results

Friday

Hayward Field

Eugene, Ore.

(All race distances in meters)

Finals

Men

3,000 steeplechase

1, Edwin Kibishiy, Louisville, 8:28.40. 2, Darren Fahy, Georgetown, 8:31.08. 3, Dylan Blankenbaker, Oklahoma, 8:31.17. 4, MJ Erb, Ole Miss, 8:32.38. 5, Scott Carpenter, Georgetown, 8:32.92. 6, Benard Keter, Texas Tech, 8:34.27. 7, Troy Fraley, Gonzaga, 8:35.38. 8, Troy Reeder, Furman, 8:38.64.

5,000

1, Grant Fisher, Stanford, 14:35.60. 2, Jack Bruce, Arkansas, 14:35.88. 3, Justyn Knight, Syracuse, 14:36.23. 4, Marc Scott, Tulsa, 14:36.57. 5, Amon Terer, Campbell, 14:36.78. 6, Chartt Miller, Iona, 14:36.79. 7, Joe Klecker, Colorado, 14:38.03. 8, John Dressel, Colorado, 14:38.40. (11, Zach Perrin, Colorado, 14:41.50).

Thursday

Finals

Women

10,000

1, Charlotte Taylor, San Francisco, 32 minutes, 38.57 seconds. 2, Alice Wright, New Mexico, 32:42.64. 3, Sharon Lokedi, Kansas, 32:46.10. 4, Alyssa Snyder, Montana State, 32:58.31. 5, Erin Clark, Colorado, 33:03.22. 6, Regan Rome, William and Mary, 33:06.03. 7, Chelsea Blaase, Tennessee, 33:06.86. 8, Caroline Sang, Charlotte, 33:09.67. (17, Makena Morley, Colorado, 33:58.17).