Katie Rainsberger opens outdoor campaign with fifth place finish at Raleigh Relays...


RALEIGH, North Carolina--
Washington senior Katie Rainsberger (photo courtesy UW Athletics) ran the fourth fastest collegiate time at 1500 meters so far in this young 2021 outdoor campaign Friday at the Raleigh Relays at Paul Derr Track on the campus of North Carolina State University.

Rainsberger clocked a 4:16.87 to finish fifth. The top five times in the NCAA so far this outdoor season were all run in her heat, with Rainsberger getting the number 4 time thus far.

Milligan College alum Hannah Segrave, who competes for New Balance, won the race in 4:12.24. 

Four other Huskies ran in various heats of the women's 1500 Friday. Pac-12 cross country champ Haley Herberg came through in a time of 4:21.95. Freshman Sophie O'Sullivan had her best race of the year thus far with a time of 4:22.67. Marlena Preigh stepped up from her usual 800-meters to clock a strong 4:24.10, and freshman Naomi Smith came down from her usual longer distances to get a good outdoor opener of 4:30.49.

Several UW athletes will run the 800 meters Saturday to conclude their participation in the Raleigh Relays.

Day 2 results of the Raleigh Relays are available here, while the UW release is available here.

COUGS COME AWAY WITH A DOZEN WINS AT WHITWORTH INVITATIONAL...

In Spokane, Washington State athletes took home a dozen wins at the Whitworth Invitational meet at Boppell Track Friday.

One of the most impressive performances of the day came from Kaylee Sowle, as the freshman from Mary M. Knight HS in Matlock cleared 5-9.25 (1.76m) to win the high jump.

Her mark is currently tied for seventh on the NCAA Division I descending order list.

Skyler Walton took home first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.75 for a personal best, and her time also ranks sixth all-time in WSU history as well.

On the women's side, the Cougs took wins in the 100, 400, steeple, 4x100 relay, pole vault, long jump, high jump, and hammer. The men took wins in the 4 x 100 relay, high jump and discus.

Madelyn Knight of Eastern Washington hung on to her first day lead to win the heptathlon with a final score of 4622 points, as Washington State's Peyton Teevens came close, but could not make up a 51-point deficit after the break.

Teevens finished with a final score of 4571, despite winning the 800 by almost eight seconds. 

Knight won the long jump with a best of 17-2 (5.23m), while Teevens was fourth at 15-5.5 (4.71m), losing 141 points to Knight in the process. Teevens got 35 points back in the javelin, and 106 in the 800. 

Teevens would have had to beat Knight in the 800 by at least 12 seconds to get the overall win. Teevens ran 2:20.57, while Knight ran 2:28.63.

Washington State's release is available here.

The results of the Whitworth Invitational are available here.

The majority of the Eastern Washington squad traveled to Missoula, Montana for the Al Manuel Invitational on Saturday.

PRO NOTES: REICHERT FINISHES EIGHTH AT TEXAS RELAYS...

Western Washington alum Katie Reichert finished eighth Thursday at the Texas Relays javelin competition at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin.

Reichert had a best of 160-2 (48.83m), as 2016 US Olympian Maggie Malone won with a toss of 204-8 (62.38m), which was a personal best.

Results of the javelin competition at the Texas Relays are available here.

Meanwhile, Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle announced on her social media channels that she has signed a sponsorship agreement with Asics.

NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington, North Carolina State University, Washington State University, Eastern Washington and the University of Texas contributed to this report.

paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support our sponsors by clicking on the links.  

Comments