Stanford Invite concludes with solid marks from Washington collegians...

PALO ALTO, California--For the schools and athletes who flew down from the Pacific Northwest to compete in Friday and Saturday's Stanford Invitational, rain and wind were the last things expected, as the athletes battled the elements and each other during portions of the meet.

Former Washington hurdler Falesha Ankton (left/photo courtesy University of Washington) finished fourth in the 100 meter hurdles final. clocking 13.49 in her outdoor professional debut competition.

Two places behind Ankton was WSU's Shaquana Logan, who ran a lifetime-best 100m hurdles time of 13.86 seconds for sixth place in the women's final after breaking the 14-second barrier in Friday's prelims with a time of 13.91w. Logan's hurdles time ties with three former Cougars for ninth-best in WSU history.

Washington's Maurice McNeal posted a speedy debut at 200-meters, winning his section in a time of 21.23 seconds, edging Oregon freshman Michael Berry, and placing fourth overall on the day.

The top Husky men's relays also had strong openings, as the 4x100-meter group clocked a 41.33 to place second overall. Sam Rucker led off, followed by James Alaka, Colton Dunn, and Ryan Hamilton on the anchor. In the 4x4, the Husky quartet of Rucker, Alaka, Dunn, and McNeal ran a 3:12.89 to again take second overall, with Dunn pulling triple duty for the day.

Another relay squad that had a solid outing was Seattle Pacific's women's 4 x 4, team of Kishia Mitchell, Emily Quatier, BryAnne Wochnick and Crystal Sims, which posted a time of 3 minutes, 52.67 seconds. That was fast enough to win the first of the three heats. It also was the sixth-fastest time in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history. The record is 3:49.70 by Western Washington in 2009.

The Cougar women's 4x400m relay squad of Courtney Zalud, Anna Layman, Angela Jensen and Brittnay Crabb ran a season-best time of 3:48.72 for seventh place

On the field, Washington's Angus Taylor finished fourth in the invitational hammer throw with a best of 192-11 (58.80m), while Husky freshman triple jumper Kasen Covington also finished fourth in 49-3 3/4 (14.99m).

In the collegiate section of the discus, Eastern Washington senior Erica Chaney placed second with a mark of 154-0 (46.95m).

One notable mark from the high school section of the Stanford Invite, as incoming freshman Eleanor Fulton from Colorado won the top section of the girl's mile in 4:50.78. Fulton competed for Team USA at last year's world junior championships in Canada in the steeplechase.

The Huskies will resume competition in two weeks at the Pepsi Team Invitational in Eugene, while Washington State heads to Tuscon next week for the Jim Click Shootout, a scoring meet hosted by the University of Arizona in Tucson. Teams from Ohio State and Minnesota will join Arizona and WSU for the scored meet that includes the decathlon and heptathlon events which begin Thursday, March 31.

Eastern Washington heads to Missoula, Montana for the Al Manuel Invitational next week.

Complete results from the Stanford Invitational are available here.

Meanwhile at Husky Stadium, Washington's field event athletes and Western's Ryan Brown highlighted competition at the Spring Break Open meet, hosted by Club Northwest.

Brown won the pole vault in a NCAA D2 provisional qualifying mark of 16-4 3/4 (5.39m).

The Huskies got wins in the women's pole vault (Logan Miller, 12-9.5/4.00m), Taylor Nichols in the women's long jump (16-11.25/5.70m), Julian Bardwell in both the long and triple jumps (23-4.5/7.12m and 45-8/13.92m); Shaniae Lakes in the women's triple jump (37-4/11.38m); Connor Larned in the men's discus (157-0/47.86m); Jimmy Brookman in the men's javelin (187-6/57.14m) and high jumper AJ Maricich (6-2.75/1.90m).

Complete results from the Spring Break Open are available here.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Stanford University, the University of Washington, Western Washington, Washington State, Eastern Washington, and Seattle Pacific contributed to this report.

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