Santiago Gomez-Prosser
Santiago Gomez-Prosser, Tristian Merchant and Camron Herron concluded their collegiate track and field seasons at the two NCAA regional meets, while Vanessa Aniteye continued her season overseas in Belgium.
In his first appearance at the NCAA West Regional in Sacramento, Anchorage’s Santiago Gomez-Prosser completed the 5,000-meter race in 13 minutes, 46.94 seconds — a sizzling pace of 4:26 per mile — to finish ninth in his heat, and 17th overall in the 48-person field.
The Northern Arizona sophomore and former Dimond High standout set a lifetime best, lopping 4.52 seconds from his previous best and improving his No. 5 spot on the Alaska All-Time list. Gomez-Prosser was just five places or 6.63 seconds away from qualifying for the national meet, which takes the top 12 finishers from each event.
Alaska Men’s All-Time 5,000
1. Trevor Dunbar, 13:26.27 (6/17)
2. Isaac Updike, 13:26.69 (2/23)
3. Don Clary, 13:27.41 (6/86)
4. David Morris, 13:44.30 (6/94)
5. Santiago Gomez-Prosser, 13:46.94 (5/23)
6. Aaron Fletcher, 13:55.64 (4/16)
7. Tristian Merchant, 13:57.34 (5/23)
8. Levi Thomet, 13:59.40 (5/17)
9. Jim Shine, 13:59.95 (3/00)
10. Carl Blackhurst, 14:00.66 (2/04)
Anchorage’s Tristian Merchant competed in two distance events in his inaugural appearance at the NCAA East Regional.
The Liberty sophomore toed the line on day one, competing in the 10,000-meter race in Jacksonville, Florida. In only his second attempt at the distance, the former ACS star finished in the middle of the field at 24th, stopping the clock at 30:01.58 and obliterating his initial rank as the event’s No. 47 seed.
Two days later, Merchant returned to the track for the 5,000, marking his first time lacing up for the distance double. The race was tactical, with athletes alternating between swift and conservative laps. Merchant finished 43rd overall in 14:38.54.
Representing Alaska in the middle distance was none other than Fairbanks’ Camron Herron, who made his second career appearance at NCAA West Regional.
Camron Herron
The Texas junior suited up for the 800, coming through the first lap around 54 seconds with the pack before moves started to be made. As the field strung out on the backstretch, the former West Valley star made his move with 200 meters to go, reeling in two competitors to run 1:49.84, finishing fifth in his heat and 28th overall.
While Herron was fourth spots shy from making the semifinals, he improved upon his previous regional showing, finishing six places higher than his inaugural appearance in 2021 when he competed for Arizona.
The time ranks as Herron’s fourth-quickest and sixth time going sub-1:50, five of which occurred this season, including his lifetime best of 1:47.97. The half-miler trails only his father, Doug Herron (1:47.00), as the second-fastest Alaskan all-time over 800 meters.
Eagle River’s Vanessa Aniteye put on a show competing at the IFAM Oordegem in Belgium.
Vanessa Aniteye
The recently graduated Seattle Pacific standout and NCAA Division II national champion took on an international field while representing Germany. Aniteye returned to her roots, competing in the 400 in a meet with significant competition.
The former Chugiak High athlete sped around the oval in 53.95 seconds to win her heat by .08 seconds, in addition to scoring a season-best and clocking her fourth-quickest time in the process.
Aniteye doubled back in the 200, placing fifth in her heat in 24.57 seconds to collect another season-best. The time was the second-quickest of her career, narrowly missing her lifetime best by .04 seconds.