THE WEEKEND AHEAD: UW Invite has hot men's mile & women's pole vault; Lilac GP opens pro season...
Full force is the mode this weekend with three meets in the state happening this weekend, plus a split squad Washington State Cougar team heading to New Mexico.
UW INVITATIONAL
Close to home, eight of the nine Washington Division I & II schools will compete at the UW Invitational Friday at the Dempsey Indoor at the UW starting at 3 pm with the men's weight throw, featuring NCAA scorer Jayden White of the Huskies.
Competition on the track gets underway at 3, with preliminary heats in the 60 hurdles, followed by the early heats of the 5000, the 60 hurdles finals, the invitational 5000s, the men's and women's 200s, the distance medley relays.
The night finishes with the men's invitational mile, featuring all three Washington NCAA 1500 meter scorers, led by NCAA champ Joe Waskom (above, with Nathan Green & Luke Houser/Paul Merca photo), with two-time world championships 1500 meter runner Johnny Gregorek and world indoor championships finalist Sam Prakel thrown in for good measure.
Since Andy Powell and his wife Maurica took command of the Husky program in the fall of 2018, ten Dawgs have broken four minutes in the mile.
Saturday's program resumes at 9 am with the early heats of the women's 3000, and the long jumps at 10 am.
The three featured events of the afternoon are the fast sections of the men's and women's 3000, and the women's pole vault, featuring incoming UW freshmen Amanda & Hana Moll from Capital HS in Olympia.
Amanda Moll broke the American high school record at the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, becoming the first prep to clear 15-0 when she cleared 15-1 (4.61m) to win the event, and claimed the US Under-20 record in the event.
Twin sister Hana, the reigning world U20 champ, was third in Reno at 14-10 (4.51m).
Both could threaten the meet record of 14-11 (4.55m) set by Megan Clark in 2017.
Media partner RunnerSpace ($) will stream both days of the UW Invitational.
LILAC GRAND PRIX OPENS US PRO CAMPAIGN...
On Friday night, the pro season in the USA officially opens with the Lilac Grand Prix at The Podium in Spokane, starting at 6 pm.
The middle distance meet features Washington alum Eleanor Fulton in the 1500 against UW volunteer assistant Alli Cash, Nia Akins of the Brooks Beasts, and Pasco native Marisa Howard, competing in her first pro race since taking last year off on maternity leave.
In the men's 1500, Henry Wynne and Brannon Kidder of the Beasts are in the field, along with former UW volunteer coach Amos Bartelsmeyer, who recently left the Nike Bowerman AC.
Isaiah Harris of the Beasts is in the men's 800, while teammate Laurie Barton is in the women's 800.
Former Beast David Ribich, who moved to the Nike Union AC a few weeks ago, is in the men's 3000 field along with Bellarmine HS & Oregon alum Jack Yearian, as they go against Tokyo Olympian Cole Hocker.
Tracklandia is offering a free live stream of the meet on its YouTube channel, and viewers are encouraged to contribute to the prize money pool. The start list, link to the YouTube channel, and live ticket information is available here.
NEW MEXICO TEAM OPEN
The majority of the Washington State track team heads south to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the two day University of New Mexico Team Open at the Albuquerque Convention Center, the site of the NCAA indoor championships in March.
Action begins Friday at 2 pm Pacific, with Saturday's competition underway at 9 am Pacific.
The Cougs are coming off a solid performance at last week's Lauren McCluskey Memorial Open in Moscow, Idaho, where they won four individual events.
Nana Gyedu (shot put), Alex Payne (weight throw), Gilana Wollman (long jump), and Renick Meyer (pentathlon) each won their respective events for the Cougars.
The squad heading to New Mexico are primarily sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers, and throwers, while the distance runners head across the Cascades to Seattle for the UW Invitational.
Flotrack ($) is streaming the meet both days, while the link to live results are available here. Host New Mexico's release with links is available here.
INLAND NORTHWEST INVITATIONAL
Saturday, Whitworth University hosts the Inland Northwest Invitational at The Podium in Spokane starting at 9:30 am.
Eastern Washington will have a majority of its squad competing, along with a small group of athletes from Washington State. Idaho will be the only other Division I school in attendance.
The majority of teams in the field are Division II, III, and NAIA schools, plus Spokane Community College.
Media partner RunnerSpace ($) will stream the meet. The link to live results is available here.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA and the sports information office of the University of Washington, Washington State University, Tracklandia, and the Spokane Sports Commission contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links.
Comments