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Husky grad Gianna Woodruff lowers Panamanian national record in 400 hurdles for second time this season...

WALNUT, California--If you're a fan of all things related to track and field in the state of Washington, Sunday was a great day!

Aside from the extra eyeballs the sport got from the appearance of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf, there were a lot of positive performances put up by a number of Washington athletes competing at Sunday's USATF Golden Games & Distance Open at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College.

Despite having no fans other than media, some family, and athlete support staff in the stands, the quality of performances were worthy of the meet being part of the World Athletics Continental Tour.

Before the televised portion of the meet started, University of Washington alum Gianna Woodruff (photo by Paul Merca) lowered her personal best and Panamanian national record in the 400 hurdles, as she ran 54.70. 

Shamier Little won the race in a world leading time off 53.65.

A few hours after the race, Woodruff talked to publisher Paul Merca about her race.

She said that she got out well through the first five hurdles, then hit a bit of a patch through the sixth and seventh hurdles, but yet was able to finish strong.

Woodruff, who also trains with reigning world and Olympic champion Dalilah Muhammad and is coached by Boogie Johnson of the Hurdle Mechanic group in Southern California, is finally learning to "trust the process, instead of talking about the process."

Asked about her upcoming races, she is looking to possibly run either a 200 or 400 in mid-May, and then run some races for Panama in the lead-up to the Olympics.

In the women's pole vault, former Pullman resident Katie Nageotte was second behind reigning Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece. The Stanford alum was the only one to clear 15-9 (4.80m), while Nageotte made 15-5 (4.70m), to get second ahead of Washington alum Olivia Gruver, who cleared the same height, but had one more miss at the height than Nageotte.

Henry Wynne of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts finished third in the 1500, running a season best 3:36.86, while UW volunteer coach Sam Prakel was fifth in 3:37.17. Wisconsin alum Ollie Hoare of Australia won in a personal best 3:33.19.

Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts was fifth in the 800, running a season best 1:45.50, as Bryce Hoppel won in 1:44.94. In a separate section, 2019 world championships team member Brannon Kidder of the Beasts was fourth in 1:48.15.

University of Washington volunteer assistant coach Alli Cash finished sixth in the women's 1500, running a personal best 4:05.90. The Oregon alum, who is training under Husky coach Maurica Powell, earned her Olympic Trials qualifying mark.

Elle Purrier won the race in a world leading time of 3:58.36.

In the mens 400 hurdles, Bonney Lake native and 2016 Cape Verde Olympian Jordin Andrade, who was added to the field late, finished ninth in a season best time of 51.17. USC grad Rai Benjamin won in a world leading time of 47.13.

In the women's 3000 steeplechase, which was conducted Sunday night, Pasco HS graduate Marisa Howard set a personal best of 9:29.65, eclipsing her previous PR of 9:32.75 set last weekend in Leavenworth, Kansas, as Courtney Frerichs of the Bowerman TC won in 9:27.70 in her first steeple since the world championships in Doha in 2019.

Washington alum Mel Lawrence, who already has the Olympic standard, was eighth in a season best 9:36.67.

More importantly, Howard got under the Olympic standard of 9:30.00. 

DK METCALF EARNS THE RESPECT OF BOTH THE TRACK & FOOTBALL COMMUNITY

He didn't have to run at the USATF Golden Games, but Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf earned the respect of both the track and football community by following through on his word and showing up to Mt. SAC to run the 100 meter dash.

In the second of two preliminary heats, the 6-4, 235 pound Metcalf ran a respectable time of 10.37 to finish ninth in the heat won by Oregon alum Cravon Gillespie in 10.11.

Gillespie would later win the finals in a season best 9.96.

After his race, Metcalf told NBC's Lewis Johnson, "To test my speed up against world class athletes like this... Like I said, just having the opportunity to run against these guys was just a blessing."

"These are world-class athletes. They do this for a living. It’s very different from football speed, which I just realized."

Later, Metcalf was asked by Emmanuel Acho why he wanted to do this, to which he replied, “Myself, everybody else is scared to do it.”

Quite frankly, Metcalf far and away exceeded my expectations on how he'd fare against a number of world-class sprinters, as I replied to ESPN Australia's Laurie Horesh:

Here's a sampling on social media's reaction to Metcalf's race, courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks.

Courtesy of NBC Olympics, here is his race:

Complete results of the USATF Golden Games & Distance Open are available here.

NOTE: USA Track & Field and Mt. San Antonio College contributed to this report.

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