Huskies break collegiate record in distance medley in Boston...

Marlena Preigh, Carley Thomas,
Sophie O'Sullivan and Anna Gibson pose in front of
the scoreboard after setting a new collegiate record
(Paul Merca photo)

BOSTON--Just when you thought that what you saw out of the Washington men last week in Seattle was an amazing feat, Maurica Powell's UW women's squad showed that it was up to the task, and then some.

On a bitterly cold night outside the comfortable confines of the Boston University Track and Tennis Center, the team of Marlena Preigh (400), Carley Thomas (800), Sophie O'Sullivan (1200), and Anna Gibson (1600) heated up the track at the first day of the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational by running 10:46.62 to break the collegiate record of 10:48.77 set by the University of Oregon in 2017 in New York, ironically coached by Powell.

O'Sullivan set the table for Washington with an opening 1200 leg of 3:16.24, over four seconds up on Lilli Burdon's 3:20.56 opener for the 2017 Ducks.

Marlena Preigh, who set a personal best at 800 meters at the UW Invitational last week of 2:04.95 ran a 54.21 split, a touch slower that what Ashante Horsley's 53.76 for Oregon.

On the 800 leg, reigning Pac-12 champ Carley Thomas, who broke her leg in a 2020 boating accident, ran 2:01.93 on her split, just short of her all time best of 2:01.01 set in 2019. For the sake of comparison, Olympian Raevyn Rogers ran a split of 2:03.53 for Oregon.

Anna Gibson finished the 1600 leg with a split of 4:34.26 to give the Huskies the collegiate record with their final time of 10:46.62.

"I thought that we were capable of breaking the school record (10:55.01, set by the team of Chelsea Orr, Jordan Carlson, Baylee Mires & Katie Flood, which won the 2012 NCAA title)," said Thomas.

O'Sullivan said that they were only looking for a mark to get them into nationals.

Gibson realized that they were on pace about halfway through her leg when Powell (on right/Paul Merca photo), who was positioned on the infield for the race, yelled at her, saying "It's a special night".

The Huskies return to the BU track Saturday for individual races, with Carley Thomas, Chloe Foerster and Preigh entered in the 800, while Gibson, O'Sullivan, and volunteer coach Alli Cash are entered in the mile.

Results from day 1 of the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational are available here.

Meanwhile in Lincoln, Nebraska, Ida Eikeng decisively won the pentathlon at the first day of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational with a school record score of 4198 points, breaking Hannah Rusnak's record by eight points.

Eikeng started by running 8.44 in the 60 hurdles to get her first win of the day, then cleared 5-6.5 (1.69m) in the high jump.

In the shot put, she won with a throw 45-0.5 (13.73m), then followed it up with her third win of the day, leaping 19-10.75 (6.06m) in the long jump, before closing out the competition with a time of 2:30.88.

The heptathlon competition has Bruno Comin Pescador of the Dawgs in third place at the break with 3236 points, while Jami Schlueter is 14th with 2801 points.

Comin Pescador started with a sprint of 7.15 in the 60, followed by a long jump of 23-1.75 (7.05m). He won the shot put with a throw of 47-6.25 (14.48m), and ended the day by clearing 6-7.50 (2.02m) in the high jump.

Schlueter's first day marks were in order: 7.28; 21-6.75 (6.57m); 44-0.75 (13.43m); and 5-10 (1.78m).

Nastassja Campbell (14-0.5/4.28m) and Sarah Borton (13-8.5/4.18m) kept the good vibes rolling with a 1-2 finish in the pole vault, while Sarah Ferguson finished fourth with a best of 13-0.75 (3.98m).

Results of day 1 of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational are available here.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jayden White of the Huskies was the top collegian in the field after finishing second in the 35 pound weight throw at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

White threw 71-1 (21.66m) to finish second behind Erich Sullins of Trackwired Elite's 75-9 (23.09m).

Beatrice Asomaning of the Dawgs was third in the women's weight throw with a best of 67-6 (20.58m).

In the invitational mens 800, Devin Dixon of the Brooks Beasts was fourth in 1:48.59.

Day 1 results of the New Mexico Collegiate Classic is available here. 

NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Boston University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of New Mexico contributed to this report.

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