BYU wins DMR re-run, while Huskies get second fastest time in school history...
 |
| Washington's Carley Thomas on the 800 leg (Paul Merca photo) |
Thanks to a snafu by the officiating crew Friday night in which the anchor legs in the DMR were positioned one lap too early, the race involving the teams from Brigham Young University, the University of Washington and the University of Utah ended up with BYU and UW ducking under 11 minutes and all but assuring their spots in the national indoor championships.
BYU's team of Anna Camp, Alena Ellsworth, Lauren Ellsworth & Whittni Orton ran the fastest time in the nation this season, clocking a facility record 10:53.95, while the Husky team of Allie Schadler, Olivia Ribera, Carley Thomas & Katie Rainsberger ran 10:56.23, the second fastest time in school history behind the 10:55.01 set by the 2012 team of Chelsea Orr, Jordan Carlson, Baylee Mires & Katie Flood that won the national title.
Utah, the only other team in the re-run (Boise State, Washington State, San Francisco & the second Utah team either were traveling home or ran their athletes in individual events earlier Saturday), ran 11:19.13, the tenth fastest time in the nation.
"The DMR was the focus of the weekend for NCAA qualifying, so for that to be the one thing that went haywire was stressful," said UW Director of Track & Field Maurica Powell. "Honestly it wasn't that stressful for the athletes, they handled it really well. We as coaches wanted to give them the best opportunity possible and we were disappointed to have a logistical issue that prevented that yesterday, but I can't say it enough, our women and the BYU women and the Utah women handled it brilliantly. They were awesome and I think it was a really gutsy run by those teams."
Schadler, who had to run her full 1,200-meter leg both days, said she wasn't fazed. "We treated it as a prelim and knew we were going to be back today," Schadler said. "Everyone felt a lot more confident and comfortable coming into today because we felt like we got the rust out of the way yesterday. Today was more of a fun thing to see what us and BYU could do. It was a lot of fun. It was like we were all one big team."
The highlights:
In the mile, Houlihan towed Bowerman teammate and fellow Iowa native Karissa Schweizer under the facility record, as she ran 4:24.32, while Hanna Green of the Nike Oregon TC dipped under 4:30 to take third in 4:28.06;
--2016 Olympic steeplechase silver medalist Evan Jager of the Bowerman TC, who missed the 2019 season with injuries, won the mile in a world leading 3:56.50, leading five other runners under 4 minutes, including Washington freshman Sam Tanner, who was fifth in 3:59.01, and Husky senior transfer and former NCAA Division II champ Dustin Nading, who was sixth in 3:59.77.
As a side note, former Emerald Ridge HS standout and 2016 Olympian Hassan Mead was seventh in that heat in 4:01.38. Also in another heat, Colorado high schooler Cruz Culpepper, who signed a national letter of intent to attend Washington, was fourth in 4:01.66.
--In another race dominated by the Bowerman TC, 2016 Olympian Colleen Quigley led six women under nine minutes in the 3000, winning in 8:44.83, the fastest time by an American so far this season.
Among those under nine were Bowerman and Olympic teammates Kate Grace (8:44.86) and Courtney Frerichs (8:47.31) in second & third: and Washington alum Mel Lawrence (8:55.26) in sixth.
--Washington's Olivia Gruver continued her dominance in the pole vault, easily winning at 14-9 (4.50m), then taking a shot at the Olympic standard of 15-5 (4.70m).
Eastern Washington's Samantha Raines set a personal best in tying for third at 13-5.25 (4.10m) with recent West Seattle HS grad Chloe Cunliffe.
--Washington's Jonah Wilson, who is being redshirted this indoor season, threw the shot over the 20 meter mark for the first time in his career, launching it 65-10.5 (20.08m), a mark which would be an indoor school record had he not used a redshirt season.
--Former Portland State standout Donte Robinson won the heptathlon with a final score of 5493 points, with Washington's Parker Kennedy second at 5353, and freshman Ollie Thorner third at 5345.
Day 2 results from the UW Invitational are available here.
NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.
Comments