Sally Kipyego runs world leading 5000m time at Husky Classic...

SEATTLE--IAAF world championships 10000m silver medalist Sally Kipyego (left/photo by Paul Merca) cruised to victory in the first night of the Husky Classic, running a world leading time of 15:15.41 in the invitational section of the women's 5000.

Just as surprising was the performance of the University of California's Deborah Maier, who ran a collegiate leading time of 15:29.24.

In that section alone, eight collegiate athletes ran under 16:04.50 and qualified for next month's NCAA indoor championships, including eighth place finisher Megan Goethals of the University of Washington (15:54.89) and Bellingham native Bronwyn Crossman (15:56.35) who attends the University of Oregon.

In the men's 5000, British internationalist Chris Thompson ran 13:29.94 to beat Oregon TC Elite/Eugene teammate Kevin Chelimo, who ran 13:30.25.

Nine collegians ducked behind the OTC duo and were pulled to the NCAA standard of 13:50.90, including another Bellingham prep standout, Jake Riley of Stanford, who ran 13:39.58 in sixth place.

The bulk of the Husky Classic will be contested Saturday beginning at 8 am with several sections of the 3000 meter run, with the invitational sections run between 3 and 6 pm.

Fans can watch the Husky Classic live online via media partner Flotrack. In addition, gohuskies.com will stream events not part of the Flotrack webcast window.

Results from the Husky Classic are available here.