Kenyan Sally Kipyego wins 3000m at UW Invitational as Katie Flood runs collegiate leading time in second...
In the women's 3000 meters, Daegu 10000 meter silver medalist Sally Kipyego of Kenya and the Oregon TC/Eugene, who is no stranger to the Dempsey from her days as a collegian at Texas Tech, ran a solo effort in winning the event in a meet and facility record time of 8:47.91.
What was surprising to the crowd was the performance of Washington sophomore Katie Flood (left/photo by Paul Merca), who surprised the strong field of professionals by finishing second behind Kipyego in an NCAA leading, and Washington school record time of 8:55.31.
After settling in around fifth or sixth place and letting former Stanford star Malindi Elmore, Penn State alum Bridget Franek, and NC State grad Julia Lucas set the pace, the Husky made a strong move in the final kilometer to reel all three in and give chase to Kipyego.
Canadian Elmore finished third in 8:59.95, and Lucas ran one of her best races as a pro, finishing in 9:01.16.
Washington alum Katie (Follett) Mackey was sixth in 9:05.73, while Husky sophomore Megan Goethals finished tenth in 9:26.51.
After a dawdling first 400 meters run in 62 seconds, Georgetown alum Andrew Bumbalough of the Oregon TC/Portland won the mile in 3:58.46 to turn back training partner and 2008 US Olympian Matt Tegenkamp, who ran 4:03.00.
In a photo finish, Oregon TC/Eugene standout and world championships competitor Geena Gall beat Nike's Lauren Johnson 4:34.79 to 4:34.80.
Canadian Cameron Levins of Southern Utah, who won the men's 5000 Friday night, came back to win the men's 3000 in a meet record time of 7:48.25, which gives him the collegiate lead in the event. In the process, he took down several notable scalps, including Brit Chris Thompson, who finished second in 7:49.14, BYU's Miles Batty who was third in 7:49.14, and former NCAA champ Sam Chelanga, who was fourth in 7:50.52.
On the field, the highlight was clearly the performance of Eastern Washington's Keisa Monterola, as the Venezuelan, who was fifth in the Pan Am Games in Mexico last fall finished with a jump of 14-4 (4.37m). She took two decent attempts at 14-6 (4.42m), as she captured an EWU school record, and stayed in second on the current NCAA Division I performance list behind Tina Sutej of Arkansas.
In the men's pole vault, Washington alum Ryan Vu turned back Husky freshman JJ Julifs, as the 2010 Pac 10 champ set a personal best of 17-9 (5.41m) to hold back the charge of the 2011 USA junior champ, who also set a personal best of 17-7 (5.36m).
In the heptathlon, Seattle Pacific alum Chris Randolph, who was 69 points ahead of training partner Corbin Duer heading into the final event, the 1000 meter run, won the two day event, scoring 5480 to Duer's 5390.
Complete results of the UW Invitational are available here.
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