Santiago Gomez-Prosser
Tristian Merchant
Some top college runners from Alaska tested their lungs and legs Friday in two massive meets that attracted nearly every notable NCAA Division I program and served as previews of the NCAA Championships on Nov. 20.
Anchorage freshmen Santiago Gomez-Prosser and Tristian Merchant raced for the top-ranked and defending national champion Northern Arizona University men’s team at the NCAA Cross Country Pre-Nationals in Tallahassee, Fla. The meet is exactly what its title describes – a race on the Apalachee Regional Park course that will be the site of the national championships.
In any event, Northern Arizona won the meet handily – its 64 points outdistanced Colorado (128) and Arkansas (128).
Gomez-Prosser, a former state champion at Dimond High, finished 103rd overall in the 8-kilometer (5-mile) race, clocking 24 minutes, 16.6 seconds in the field of 298 finishers. That put him seventh among NAU’s eight runners. Merchant, a three-time former state champ for Anchorage Christian School, crossed in 24:18.5 for 110th place overall and eighth among NAU runners.
That Gomez-Prosser and Merchant represented NAU in the Garnet race Friday – there was also an Open race in Tallahassee – is testament to their talent and tenacity. NAU under coach Mike Smith is cross country’s latest dynasty. The Lumberjack men seized national titles in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020 – the 2020 championship actually was contested in 2021 because of the pandemic – and were runners-up to BYU in 2019.
Sadie Tuckwood
Meanwhile, former Juneau-Douglas standout Sadie Tuckwood gradually moved up throughout the 6-kilometer race Friday at Wisconsin’s Nuttycombe Invitational and finished second among Gonzaga’s entries in 21:12.2. Tuckwood crossed 87th among 266 finishers. And get a load of her progression – 155th at two kilometers, 116th at four kilometers, 87th at the finish.
Gonzaga finished 21st among 36 women’s teams. Third-ranked New Mexico won the team title, top-ranked North Carolina State took second and second-ranked BYU captured third – so, the field was stacked.
Tuckwood was state runner-up as a senior and junior, and finished third as a sophomore. Her prep career just happened to like up with Kendall Kramer of West Valley, who won all three of those state titles and currently runs and skis for UAF.