Invitational distance medley relay stopped due to officiating error; race to be rerun Saturday at UW Invite...
SEATTLE--It was expected that the current NCAA leading time in the women's distance medley relay of 11:15.47 set by Duke University last week in New York would be taken down Friday night by either the University of Washington or Brigham Young University, as they lined up teams that on paper, looked like they could easily run under 11 minutes.
However, that will have to wait until Saturday.
Due to an officiating error, the anchor (1600 meter) legs for the seven teams in the invitational section of the race were placed on the track one lap early.
Once the teams handed off to their anchors, coaches and spectators realized the error, and the race was stopped.
After conferring with the coaches of the teams, the final heat of the women's distance medley relay, featuring the UW, BYU, Utah, Washington State, Boise State, San Francisco, and Oiselle will run the race Saturday between the women's and men's 4x400m relays (approximately 5 pm).
The highlights:
--In the women's 5000, Natasha Rogers (left, #1494/photo by Paul Merca) of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project won a spirited battle with China's Yanli Zhao, running 15:56.16.
Rogers, who just won the USATF cross country title in San Diego two weeks ago, traded the lead with Zhao before pulling away. Zhao, who ran on China's world cross country championship team last year in the under-20 race, faded to third in 16:03.65, as Canadian Natalia Hawthorn took second in 16:03.30;
--Washington's Angel Nkwonta set her second school record of the season in winning the women's weight throw with a mark of 68-3 (20.80m), improving upon the mark fo 66-0.25 (20.12m) she set two weeks ago at the UW Preview.
For the time being, Nkwonta's winning mark puts her number 14 on the NCAA Division I performance list, pending the outcome of other meets this weekend;
--Iowa State's Thomas Pollard won the men's 5000 in 14:02.39. Washington State' Colton Johnsen was fourth in 14:08.41;
--In the men's heptathlon, Donte Robinson leads at the break with a 4-event total of 3130 points, with Seren Dances of Western Washington third at 2929 points.
Action resumes at 10 am Saturday with the heptathlon 60 meter hurdles, followed by heats of the mile. Also starting on the field at that time are the men's weight throw and the long jumps for men and women.
Between 3:45 and 5 pm will be a series of races centered around the distances, featuring a plethora of Olympians and world championships participants.
Day 1 results from the UW Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.
However, that will have to wait until Saturday.
Due to an officiating error, the anchor (1600 meter) legs for the seven teams in the invitational section of the race were placed on the track one lap early.
Once the teams handed off to their anchors, coaches and spectators realized the error, and the race was stopped.
After conferring with the coaches of the teams, the final heat of the women's distance medley relay, featuring the UW, BYU, Utah, Washington State, Boise State, San Francisco, and Oiselle will run the race Saturday between the women's and men's 4x400m relays (approximately 5 pm).
Due to an officiating mistake the top heat of the women’s DMR had to be stopped prematurely. One of the exchanges was made too soon.— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) February 1, 2020
The plan is to re-run the event tomorrow between the women’s and men’s 4x4 relays.
Sincerest apologies to all the teams and athletes affected.
The highlights:
Rogers, who just won the USATF cross country title in San Diego two weeks ago, traded the lead with Zhao before pulling away. Zhao, who ran on China's world cross country championship team last year in the under-20 race, faded to third in 16:03.65, as Canadian Natalia Hawthorn took second in 16:03.30;
--Washington's Angel Nkwonta set her second school record of the season in winning the women's weight throw with a mark of 68-3 (20.80m), improving upon the mark fo 66-0.25 (20.12m) she set two weeks ago at the UW Preview.
For the time being, Nkwonta's winning mark puts her number 14 on the NCAA Division I performance list, pending the outcome of other meets this weekend;
--Iowa State's Thomas Pollard won the men's 5000 in 14:02.39. Washington State' Colton Johnsen was fourth in 14:08.41;
--In the men's heptathlon, Donte Robinson leads at the break with a 4-event total of 3130 points, with Seren Dances of Western Washington third at 2929 points.
Action resumes at 10 am Saturday with the heptathlon 60 meter hurdles, followed by heats of the mile. Also starting on the field at that time are the men's weight throw and the long jumps for men and women.
Between 3:45 and 5 pm will be a series of races centered around the distances, featuring a plethora of Olympians and world championships participants.
Day 1 results from the UW Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.
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