Spokane prep star Britney Henry wins day 1 of Tuscon Elite hammer, plus links...

With this weekend being the dead period between the conference championships and the NCAA regional meets/NCAA Division II championships, high performance meets in Tuscon and Los Angeles take center stage.

Back at Drachman Stadium on the campus of the University of Arizona, the Tuscon Elite throwers meet got underway Thursday, as Lewis & Clark/Spokane HS grad and University of Oregon alum Britney Henry (left/photo courtesy thebritneyhenryproject.blogspot.com) won the hammer with a mark of 228-6 (69.64m).

Former Georgia Tech standout Kimery Hern, who is now a volunteer assistant throws coach at the University of Washington, finished ninth with a mark of 197-9 (60.28m).

In the men's discus, former Washington State thrower Drew Ulrick was fifth with a throw of 194-9, while former Husky Will Conwell, now competing for Club Northwest was seventh at 189-4 (57.72m).

In the men's hammer, Ft. Lewis resident Michael Mai was second with a throw of 237-4 (72.33m).

The Tuscon Elite meet resumes Saturday. Day 1 results are available here.

In Los Angeles, the Occidental HIgh Performance meet takes place Saturday night on the campus of Occidental College, with the middle distances the emphasis.

University of Washington graduate Katie Follett is entered in the 1500 in a field that includes 2009 World Championship bronze medalist Shannon Rowbury, Canadian Olympian Malindi Elmore, and world championships competitor Bridget Franek, who is dropping down in distance.

In the men's 1500, Auburn/Riverside HS grad Jordan McNamara is entered in the B section.

In the A section, scheduled to run are US Olympians Lopez Lomong, Leo Manzano, Matt Tegenkamp, and Nick Symmonds, with Olympic bronze medalist Nick Willis of New Zealand scheduled to be one of the pacesetters.

Media partner Flotrack will provide streaming video of the Occidental high performance meet starting at 6:45pm, pacific time.

Start lists for the Occidental meet are available here.

In our post of the NCAA regional start lists, one notable absence on the women's side is Colorado's Jessica Pixler, who tracksuperfan.com reports is out of the meet with a stress fracture in her foot.

Finally, several news organizations have reported that USA Track & Field and former CEO Doug Logan have reached a settlement over his wrongful termination suit.

You can read the link from the Los Angeles Times here, which was written by long time track & field writer Gene Cherry of Reuters.