LIVERMORE, Calif. — It's clinching season at Saint Mary's College, as the season winds down for the Gaels track teams. With the final races of the season on the horizon or in the rearview mirror, a couple of Saint Mary's runners are attempting to do what few or no Gaels have done before: qualify for the NCAA tournament. Some steps in the right direction might have been taken on Saturday night as the Gaels hosted the West Coast Distance Carnival at Las Positas College. With some blazing fast times by the best runners, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that the Gaels are represented at the NCAA Championship later this month.
 
RUNNING TO THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP?
There are no guarantees that Rayna Stanziano has secured herself a spot in the NCAA Championship Prelims in College Station, but there is a good chance based off her performance on Saturday. To no one's surprise, she won the 1500m race outright with her time of 4:19.87, winning not only her heat but the entire race. What was most impressive was that she beat her entire section by at least nine seconds, and set another personal record and school record in the process with her time. Qualifying marks for the NCAA Championship are on a "top-mark" basis, meaning the fastest runners will qualify, and if this season plays out like most, Stanziano should qualify for the NCAA Championship. If she does, she would become the first female Gael Track athlete in history to qualify for the NCAA Championship.
 
DOES DOZIER QUALIFY?
Stanziano might not be alone in terms of qualifying for the NCAA Championship Prelims in College Station, as Nolan Dozier put up a mark that might punch his ticket to the Championship Prelims. Competing in the third heat of the 5000m, Dozier finished fourth overall in the stacked field, and was second among WCC competitors with his time of 14:07.14. Much like Stanziano, it stands as another personal record and school record, but the only question here is if it's good enough to qualify for a National Championship run. Fast times have been the story of 2021 across the NCAA, and in normal years, Dozier would qualify. It now is a "wait and see" type of approach, unless Dozier bests his time next weekend when the Gaels wrap up their season.
 
OTHER TOP PERFORMERS
Continuing her strong run as of late, Abigayle Mitchell nearly set another personal record in the 800m race, where she finished fourth overall with a mark of 2:10.89, finishing just 0.57 seconds back of a personal best (she set that PR in the last meet at Fresno State)…a pair of PRs were set by Payton Fox and Thomas Osborne, who finished fourth and fifth in their heat of the 1500m with times of 4:01.66 and 4:03.09, respectively…two other Gaels were able to lock down top-10 finishes in the 5000m, with Chandler Maciel and Moses Bojorquez finishing eighth and ninth overall…Maciel hit a personal best with his time of 14:40.90, eclipsing his mark that he set during the Bryan Clay Invitational by just over three seconds.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will have two last chance meets on the schedule next weekend as they split their squad up to give them the best chance to succeed and hit their final PR and qualifying marks of the year. Saint Mary's will send runners to Azusa Pacific for the third time this year, and to Santa Clara for both program's last chance meets.