Dawgs set school DMR record at Notre Dame, plus action at Millrose, Glasgow & GNAC champs...

SOUTH BEND, Indiana—Washington’s distance medley relay team of Blake Nelson, Jacopo Spano, Izaic Yorks and Colby Gilbert broke the school record of 9:31.68 Saturday in finishing second behind Oklahoma State at the Alex Wilson Invitational at the Loftus Sports Center on the campus of Notre Dame University.

Nelson (left/photo by Paul Merca), who narrowly missed becoming the seventh Husky to break 4 minutes in the mile at last week’s Husky Classic, led off with an unofficial split of 2:55.1, which put Washington in fourth place against a loaded field that included Michigan, Oklahoma, UCLA, and host Notre Dame.

Spano’s 46.0 carry put Washington into third place before giving the baton to Yorks for the 800 leg. Yorks, who set the UW school record at 800 meters of 1:47.89 at the UW Invitational last month, got the Huskies into the lead with a 1:47.6 carry, before giving the baton to Gilbert.

Gilbert led for most of the final leg, until the last lap and a half when Notre Dame’s Christopher Marco and Oklahoma’s Jacob Burcham charged to the front.  Gilbert ran beside Oklahoma State’s Joshua Thompson going into the bell, and overtook Marco at the bell. Thompson shot past Gilbert and jumped past Burcham with less than 200 meters to go.

As they headed down the final straight, Gilbert swung to the outside, passing a fading Burcham, but Thompson got enough of a lead to give Oklahoma State the win in a track record 9:26.60 to the Huskies’ 9:27.19.

Gilbert’s unofficial split on the 1600 carry was 3:58.2.

UW head coach Greg Metcalf said afterwards, “The DMR just gets tougher and tougher to make every year, and we knew we would need a school record to get to nationals, and the men were confident that they could get it done, and they ran fantastic.”

“We had three different teams place fifth in the DMR just ten years ago and they never broke 9:35, so to run 9:27, one of the ten fastest times in NCAA history, is pretty incredible.”

Washington’s time is the eighth fastest in collegiate history, while Oklahoma State is tied for third all-time.

Eleanor Fulton finished second in the women’s mile, running a personal best 4:37.26. Fulton’s mark is the third fastest indoors in school history behind Katie Flood’s 4:28.48 and Katie Follett’s 4:34.98.

2014 Pac-12 800 meter champion Derrick Daigre was 10th overall in the men’s 800, running a time of 1:52.80.

The ESPN3 coverage of the Alex Wilson Invitational can be watched here (may need an ESPN log-in from your cable provider).

Complete results of the Alex Wilson Invitational are available here.

THE PRO RUNDOWN FROM NEW YORK & GLASGOW...

In New York, Garrett Heath of the Brooks Beasts ran near the front early, but finished sixth in the Wanamaker Mile at the NYRR Millrose Games at the Armory Saturday.

Heath finished in 3:55.10, as Matthew Centrowitz of the Nike Oregon Project won a tight battle with New Zealand’s Nick Willis, 3:50.63 to 3:51.06.

Seattle’s Phoebe Wright, who trains with the Beasts, finished sixth in the 800 meters.

Wright ran 2:03.97, as Ajee’ Wilson won in a world and US leading time of 2:00.09.

In the women’s Wanamaker Mile, Washington alum Katie Mackey of the Brooks Beasts was seventh in 4:28.84, one spot ahead of Camas’ Alexa Efraimson, who ran 4:28.91.  Shannon Rowbury of the Nike Oregon Project won in 4:24.39.

Rainier Beach HS grad Ginnie Crawford was seventh in the 60 hurdles in 8.22, as Janay DeLoach won in 7.85.

Complete results of the NYRR Millrose Games are available here.

In Glasgow, Scotland, Cas Loxsom of the Brooks Beasts finished eighth in a season best 1:50.68 in the 800 meters at the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix at the Emirates Arena.

Poland’s Adam Kszczot won the race in 1:46.23.

Gig Harbor’s Mark Wieczorek was the pace setter in the men’s 1500 won by Morocco’s Abdelaati Iguider in 3:34.94.

Complete results of the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix are located here.

FALCON WOMEN FINISH SECOND AT GNAC INDOORS

In Nampa, Idaho, Seattle Pacific’s women’ squad finished second at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor championships at Jackson’s Track at the Ford Idaho Center.

Team champion Alaska Anchorage scored 164 points to outdistance the Falcons’ 136 points.  Western Washington was fourth with 64.5 points, while Central Washington was sixth with 59, and Saint Martin’s ninth with 25 points.

SPU’s Jahzelle Ambus won both the 200 and 400 meter dashes, leading a 1-2 Falcon finish in the 400 with teammate Jalen Tims, running 54.87 to Tims’ 55.21.

In the 200, Ambus outran defending champion Jamie Ashcroft of Alaska Anchorage, to win in 24.35 to Ashcroft’s 24.37.

Ambus’ marks will, in all probability, assure her of a spot in the NCAA Division II championship meet in Pittsburg, Kansas March 11-12.

In the race of the meet, Central Washington’s Mariah Vongsaveng won the 60 hurdles title in a photo finish time of 8.713 to UAA’s Rosie Smith (8.714) and SPU’s Maliea Luquin (8.717).  The meet was delayed by 10 minutes as the finish line crew reviewed frame by frame the three bodies crossing the finish line to determine the winner.

Western Washington’s Jasmine McMullin set a meet record in winning the triple jump with a third round leap of 40-1.25 (12.22m).

Like their female counterparts, Alaska Anchorage won yet another GNAC indoor title, scoring 164 points to easily outdistance second place Western Oregon’s 93 points.

Western Washington was third with 92 points.  Central Washington was sixth with 63 points, while Saint Martin’s was ninth with 24 points, and Seattle Pacific tenth with 12.

Central Washington’s Kent McKinney won the 60 dash in 6.91, while Western’s Travis Milbrandt won the 60 hurdles in 8.09.  

Mikel Smith of Saint Martin’s won the high jump with a leap of 6-9 (2.06m), while Luke Plummer of Central Washington won the triple jump at 49-2.25 (14.99m).

Seattle Pacific hosts the SPU Final Qualifier meet next Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor on the campus of the University of Washington following the conclusion of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation meet.

Complete results of the GNAC championship meet are available here.

NOTE:  The University of Washington, the New York Road Runners, Seattle Pacific University, and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.