UW Invitational draws Olympians and all nine Washington D1/D2 schools to the Dempsey this weekend...
All nine Washington NCAA Division I and II schools will have representatives in the meet, though Washington State will send its sprint and jumps crew to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the New Mexico Team Invitational Saturday.
Action gets underway Friday with the heptathlon 60 meter dash at 1:00 pm with 2019 British world championships competitor and UW volunteer coach Tim Duckworth, followed by the first event of the women's pentathlon-the 60 meter hurdles, featuring Washington's reigning Pac-12 heptathlon champ Hannah Rusnak (left/photo by Paul Merca).
Friday events include both the men's and women's 60 hurdles and 200 meters, along with the 5000s and the distance medley relay.
On the field, finals in the men's high jump and women's weight throw will be contested, along with a section of the men's and women's pole vaults.
The distance medley relays will be the most intriguing race of the evening, with the final heat of the women's DMR perhaps the most anticipated race at 7:40 pm, especially after freshman Carley Thomas obliterated the school record at 800 meters last week in New York, when the native of Sydney, Australia ran 2:03.06 to take the collegiate lead.
According to Washington's pre-meet release, she will be teamed up with Allie Schadler and Katie Rainsberger, plus a 400m runner to be announced (Schadler was on the team that finished seventh last year, along with current senior Imani Apostol).
Saturday is schedule to begin at 10 a.m., and there will be an afternoon section on the track that groups the 60m dash finals, and the top-seeded heats of the m400m, 800m, mile, 3000m, and 4x400m relays into a 90-minute window, starting at 3:45 p.m. with Saturday's action expected to finish around 5:00 p.m.
One of the main draws of the meet will be the participation of the Bowerman Track Club, which includes the likes of U.S. Olympian and reigning U.S. Champion Shelby Houlihan (entered in the 800m and mile), multiple NCAA-champion Karissa Schweizer (mile and 3k), U.S. Olympian Kate Grace (3k), U.S. Olympian Colleen Quigley (3k), U.S. Olympian Courtney Frerichs (3k), and recent Stanford grad Vanessa Fraser (3k) on the women's side.
Men's BTC athletes include U.S. Olympian Evan Jager (mile), Sean McGorty (3k), and Marc Scott (5k).
Former Emerald Ridge HS standout and 2016 US Olympian at 5000 meters Hassan Mead will run in the invitational mile, along with four Huskies, including NCAA qualifier Mick Stanovsek, who ran 3:59.58 two weeks ago, and freshman Sam Tanner, who broke 4 minutes last year as a New Zealand high school sensation.
Washington's Olivia Gruver, who took a couple of good shots at the indoor collegiate record in the pole vault, while be pressed by national high school record holder Chloe Cunliffe, who spurned a scholarship to Washington State for a pro contract with Puma. Lianne Kistler of Ballard HS, who also cleared 14 feet last season, is in the field as well.
The home page and pre-meet release for the UW Invitational is available here, which includes the complete time schedule and heat sheets.
Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream the meet.
In Boston, 2016 Portuguese Olympian Marta Pen Freitas of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts along with Washington alum Baylee Mires are entered in the invitational 1500 meters at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White meet, hosted by Boston University.
Olympia native Brooke Feldmeier is also entered in the invitational 800 in Boston; curiously, she's also listed in the field at the UW Invitational.
The entry list for the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White meet invitational races are available here.
WORLD INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS POSTPONED TO 2021...
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| The Cube in Nanjing, the site of the 2020 WA World Indoor Championships, which will be postponed to 2021 (World Athletics photo) |
The World Health Organization has declared a state of emergency due to the outbreak.
WHO defines a global health emergency, also known as a “public health emergency of international concern,” as an “extraordinary event” that is “serious, unusual or unexpected.”
In the WA release, the international federation considered the possibility of relocating the meet to another country, however concerns that the virus could possibly spread outside China, WA elected not to use that option, but to find a suitable date next year.
"We have chosen not to cancel the championships as many of our athletes would like this event to take place so we will now work with our athletes, our partners and the Nanjing organizing committee to secure a date in 2021 to stage this event."
World Athletics' release is available here.
NOTE: World Athletics along with the sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State University & Boston University contributed to this report.
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