FRIDAY RECAP: Stanford, Texas Relays, SF Distance Classic, UBC Open...

With events ending close to midnight on Friday, here’s a recap of what happened with the state’s Division I and Ii schools, and its post-collegians yesterday:

STANFORD INVITATIONAL

In Palo Alto, former USA national champion Jeshua Anderson (above/photo by Trent Brendel) finished second in the 400 hurdles, running 49.96.

Earlier in the day, he finished second in the 110 hurdles, running 14.16.

Washington alum Gianna Woodruff was fifth in the 400, running 53.94, a new personal best.

Fellow Husky alum Aaron Nelson ran in the lead group, and ultimately finished ninth in the invitational 10000, running 28:38.74, as Vincent Kiprop of Alabama won in 28:19.07.

The best marks from the current group of Huskies came from former NCAA steeple qualifier Andrew Gardner, who ran a 13:56.77, which grabs the No. 10 spot in school history. Just behind him was Fred Huxham, who ran 13:57.72.

In a separate heat, redshirt freshman Gavin Parpart won in 14:03.02.

Anna Maxwell ran a solid 4:21.47in the second section of the women’s 1500.

Washington State's Vallery Korir broke their school record in a heat of the women's 10000m, running 33:52.28.  Justin Janke (3:47.30) and Paul Ryan (3:47.85) went 1-2 in their heat of the men's 1500, while Chandler Teigen was second (3:43.13) in another heat.

Running in separate sections of the 3000 steeplechase, Gonzaga’s Kellen Manley (8:51.26) and Sammy Truax (8:55.95) both finished third in their heats.

Western Washington’s Anna Paradee was sixth in the top section of the women’s pole vault, clearing 12-11.5 (3.95m), while Tori Franzen of Washington was fourth, at the same height.

Eastern Washington’s lone competitor, Paula Gil-Echevarria, was tenth in 11:03.77.

The meet continues Saturday.  Results are available here.

TEXAS RELAYS

In Austin, Washington senior Hanna Tarleton was fourth in the invitational section of the women’s 400 hurdles, running 59.20.

Washington’s 4 x 100 relay of Jelani Heath, Iman Brown, Imani Apostol & Olivia Ribera ran 46.53, while their men’s squad of Jordan Lucas, Jacopo Spano, Ryan Croson & Khalil Winfrey ran 41.51. The women’s 4 x 400 relay team of Hanna Tarleton, Raquel Tjernagel, Carolyn Birkenfeld & Apostol ran 3:43.59 but were disqualified for stepping off the track.

Heath had the best performance on the day for the Dawgs, jumping 19-7.5 (5.98m) with a wind just over the 2.0 meter per second barrier (2.1).

In the women’s 100, Eastern Washington’s Lexi Rolan ran 11.65, a mark which would have been the second fastest in school history, except it was aided be a 2.6 meter per second wind.

The meet continues Saturday.  Results are available here.

SAN FRANCISCO DISTANCE CLASSIC

In Hayward, California, Eastern Washington’s Kari Hamilton was third in the top section of the women’s 10000, running 34:55.83.

Seattle University’s Olivia Stein finished sixth in her section of the women’s 5000, running 17:11.60, while in the top section, Seattle Pacific’s Mary Charleson was 15th in 17:45.28, after having broken 17 minutes in this meet last year.  Her teammate Alyssa Foote had the top time for the Falcons, running 17:28.18 in the second section.

The meet continues Saturday.  Results are available here.

UBC OPEN

In Vancouver, BC, Seattle Pacific’s sprinters turned in outstanding performances, led by freshman Julia Stepper, who ran a GNAC conference leading time in the women’s 100.

Stepper powered down the straightaway to a time of 12.21 seconds on Friday afternoon, winning the 100-meter dash at the UBC Open and ascending to the top of the conference list in that event.

Senior Becca Houk led a maroon-dominated performance in the 400-meter dash. Houk was first across the line with a PR time of 58.33, eclipsing her old best of 58.78 when she won the 400 in last Saturday's Doris Heritage meet.

Houk, along with teammates Chynna Phan (58.52) and Grace Bley (58.68) went 1-2-3 in the first section of the 400.  Afterwards, the Falcons’ outstanding sophomore Scout Cai won the second section in 58.43, giving her second place overall, with Phan and Bley right behind as SPU swept the top four spots.

Seattle Pacific’s release and a link to results are available here.

NEWS, NOTES & HOT LINKS

paulmerca.blogspot.com received an email from Washington State sports information associate director Linda Chalich informing us that the Cougar Invitational, originally scheduled for April 14th, has been cancelled, as most of the area schools committed to compete at the Pelluer Invitational at Eastern Washington that same day. 

Here’s a link to a story on the Oiselle web site on Washington alum Mel Lawrence, (above/photo by Paul Merca) who has seen a resurgence in her professional running career after some rough patches after graduation.

In this piece, she talks about her first two years at Washington, highlighted by the Huskies scoring the first perfect 15 at the 2008 Pac-10 championships in Eugene, en route to winning the national title a month later.

Buried in this release of USA Track & Field’s 2018 outdoor television schedule is the announcement that Des Moines, Iowa will also host the 2019 USATF Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium.  

Des Moines was already set to host this year’s championships.

The release is available here.

NOTE:  The sports information offices of Stanford University, the University of Texas, San Francisco State, Gonzaga, Seattle Pacific, USA Track & Field and the University of British Columbia contributed to this report.