Brooks Beasts add four to 2019 roster...

The Brooks Beasts will start the 2019 season with four new faces on their roster, according to a note passed on to paulmerca.blogspot.com from Brooks’ media relations staff.

The Seattle-based pro track club adds to the mix Allie Buchalski (left/photo by Paul Merca), along with David Ribich, Josh Kerr, and Kirkland native Dillon Maggard.

Buchalski, a recent graduate from Furman, finished second in the 5000 meters at last year’s NCAA outdoor championships, and was ninth in the 2017 NCAA cross country championships. She also finished tenth at the USATF national road 5k championships in New York in November.

She finished ninth at last month’s USATF National Club Cross Country Championships in Spokane Valley, running 19:49 for 6k.

Kerr is the collegiate record-holder in the men’s 1500-meter run with his time of 3 minutes, 35.01 seconds, set at the Bryan Clay invitational in April.

Kerr, originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, competed at the University of New Mexico where he was a three-time NCAA Division I national champion. He won the indoor 1-mile run in 2017 and 2018. Outdoors, he was the 2017 1,500 champion, and was third at the NCAA championship meet in Eugene in June.

Ribich won two NCAA Division II outdoor 1500 titles at Western Oregon, and also was part of two national championship teams in the distance medley relay.

He was 41st at last month’s USATF National Club Cross Country Championships in Spokane Valley, running 30:51 for 10k.

The final new member of the Beasts for the 2019 season is Dillon Maggard, a graduate of Lake Washington HS and Utah State University.

He was a nine-time All-American at Utah State, who finished sixth at the NCAA cross country championships in 2017.

At the NCAA outdoor championships in Eugene, he placed third in the 10,000 meters with a school-record time of 28:38.36. Just two days later, he finished sixth in the finals of the 5,000 meters with a time of 13:57.40.

Maggard was ranked number 8 by Track & Field News in the 10000 for 2018.

Returning to the Beasts on the men’s squad for the 2019 season are Garrett Heath, Izaic Yorks, Drew Windle, Henry Wynne, Ryan Vail and Brannon Kidder.

One significant change in the Beasts’ roster is that besides Buchalski, Washington alum Katie Mackey is currently the only other woman on the team, as several members of the 2018 squad either did not have their contracts renewed or elected to leave the team.

Several members of the Beasts have announced on their personal social media accounts that they will open the 2019 season Saturday at the UW Indoor Preview at the Dempsey Indoor on the University of Washington campus.