Dempsey facility records fall in men's 5000 and 3000 on first night of Husky Classic...

SEATTLE--On the first day of competition at the Husky Classic, fast times in the distance races were in order, as the arena record fell in the men's 5000 and 3000 meter races, and the meet record went down in the men's 60 hurdles and the women's distance medley relay.

In the men's 5000, five runners ducked under the Dempsey record of 13:28.00 set by Brigham Young's Conner Mantz last year, led by Stanford's Ky Robinson, who used a late surge to go past Washington's Brian Fay (Paul Merca photo) and win in a time of 13:21.85, the second fastest time in the NCAA this season.

For his troubles, Fay set a new University of Washington school record in second in a time of 13:24.00, to hold off Stanford's Cole Sprout, who finished in 13:24.38.

Such was the quality of the men's 5000 that out of the four combined heats, 24 runners broke 14 minutes, and the top five were all under 13:26.5.

The men's 3000 saw Northern Arizona's Abdihamid Nur win a spirited race over Colorado's Eduardo Herrera, as Nur ran 7:40.66 to Herrera's 7:42.67.

Both ducked under the old Dempsey record of 7:43.08 set ten years ago by North Carolina State's Ryan Hill.

Washington State's Olympic Trials qualifier Sam Brixey set a meet record in the 60 hurdles, running 7.71 to erase the old meet record of 7.75 set by Ronald Brookings of Sacramento State in 2011.

Brixey was pressed by Eastern Washington alum and Olympic Trials qualifier Parker Bowden, with Bowden at 7.80, and Brixey's teammate Nick Johnson third at 7.81.

Both BYU and Oklahoma State got under the old meet record of 11:01.59 in the women's distance medley relay, with BYU taking the win in 10:58.37, and Oklahoma State just behind in 10:59.87, despite a strong 1600 anchor leg from Lake Stevens HS alum Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State.

Other highlights:

Jayden White of Washington extended his school record in the weight throw, launching the weight 73-11.75 (22.55m);

Haley Herberg of the Huskies broke the school record in the women's 5000 with her fifth place finish in 15:39.19, as Colorado alum Carrie Verdon won in 15:33.50; 

Beatrice Asomaning won the women's weight throw with a toss of 66-0.5 (20.13m), the second longest throw in school history.

The meet resumes at 10 am, with media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) offering a live stream of the meet.

Day 1 results of the Husky Classic is available here.

In Spokane, Olympic 1500m bronze medalist Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts got the only win on the evening at the Lilac Grand Prix at The Podium Friday night.

Kerr dropped down in distance and won the men's 800 in a time of 1:46.64, ahead of Craig Engels of the Nike Union AC, who ran 1:46.77, and Kerr's teammate Drew Windle, who ran 1:47.23.

Fellow Beast and Portuguese Olympian Marta Pen Freitas finished second in the 1500, as she ran 4:10.57 to winner Dani Jones' 4:08.92.

David Ribich of the Beasts was second in the 3000, running 8:00.58. Gonzaga's James Mwaura was third in 8:03.04, as Jake Heyward of Nike Oregon TC won in 7:48.83.

Isaiah Harris of the Beasts was second in the rarely run men's 600 to Nike Union AC's Donovan Brazier. Brazier ran 1:13.97 to Harris' 1:14.95.

Laurie Barton of the Beasts was third in the 800, as she ran 2:03.71.  Canadian Lindsey Butterworth took the win in 2:02.14.

The highlight of the meet came in the final event, as the Nike Union Athletics Club team of Ella Donoghu, Raevyn Rogers, Sinclaire Johnson and Shannon Osika set an indoor world best in the distance medley relay, running 10:39.91.

The old indoor record was set in Boston in 2017 by the team of Emma Coburn, Sydney McLaughlin, Brenda Martinez, and Jenny Simpson when the foursome ran 10:40.31.

Complete results of the Lilac Grand Prix are available here.

NOTE: Spokane Sports, and the sports information offices of the University of Washington  Washington State University and Eastern Washington University contributed to this report.

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