Huskies Houser, Ryan, and Elliott assured spots in NCAA indoor champs, while Preigh & Ahl await...
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| Washington's Luke Houser scans his ticket to the NCAA Indoor champs in Albuquerque with his 3:52.87 mile time in Boston (Paul Merca photo) |
BOSTON--During the collegiate indoor track season, the final weekend before the national championship meet has its own share of drama.
In addition to battling for team supremacy in various conference championship meets around the country, there's a good number of athletes shooting for the one time or mark that clinches a spot in the national championship meet.
At the Boston University Last Chance Meet Sunday, Washington's Luke Houser, Aaron Ahl, and Aiden Ryan were all on the outside looking in, as they were outside the number 16 time in the mile in NCAA Division I of 3:55.63.
All three took care of that matter, as they got under the time in the second heat of the mile Sunday afternoon.
In the first of ten heats of the men's mile, Henry Wynne of the Brooks Beasts held off a late charge from Oregon alum Cooper Teare to win the section in 3:52.51 to 3:52.56.
Section 2 comprised of UW volunteer assistant coach Sam Prakel and Johnny Gregorek, both of whom train under UW head coach Andy Powell, plus the eight Huskies who broke 4 minutes in the mile in the same race last month: NCAA champ Joe Waskom, third placer Sam Ellis, fifth placer Houser, seventh placer Nathan Green, plus Kieran Lumb, Brian Fay, Ryan, and Ahl, with pros Geordie Beamish, AJ Ernst, and Robby Andrews in for good measure.
Andrews, who was the designated pacer, took the field through 809m in 1:56.71, with Prakel, Gregorek, Lumb, Waskom and Beamish tucked behind.
Past the 1200 mark, it became a three man race between Prakel, Lumb and Beamish, with Prakel holding a slight advantage over Lumb.
Entering the final lap, there was no change in the top three, but a late surge from Beamish on Prakel's outside won the day for the New Zealander, taking the victory from the US 1500 meter indoor champ in 3:51.22 to 3:51.25.
Behind them, Lumb was third in a personal best 3:52.62, Gregorek took fourth in 3:52.80, then Houser in 3:52.87. Ellis, who only has outdoor eligibility remaining, was sixth in 3:53.13, while Green was seventh in 3:53.25.
Ryan, the grad transfer and NCAA record holder in this event from Division III Williams was ninth in 3:53.65, while Ahl, the grad transfer from Division II Simon Fraser was tenth in 3:55.60. Waskom was 11th in 3:56.79. and Fay was 12th in 3:58.30.
Houser jumps to number 6 on the NCAA list, while Ryan goes to number 8 on the list. Ahl currently sits outside at number 17 for an individual berth to the NCAA championships, pending the outcome of other meets Sunday.
Washington State's Zach Stallings, who only has outdoor eligibility remaining, finished heat 3 in 4th place in 3:57.17, while Cougar alum Colton Johnsen was 10th in the same heat at 4:02.34. Bellarmine Prep and Oregon alum Jack Yearian was 11th in heat 1 in 4:05.25.
In the women's 800, Carley Thomas entered Sunday's race as the number 7 performer on the NCAA descending order list at 2:02.15, set on this same Boston University track three weeks ago, while Marlena Preigh was outside at number 23 at 2:03.75.
Both Thomas and Preigh ran in the top section of the 800, in a race won by Canada's Jazz Shukla in 2:01.00.
UMass Lowell's Isabella Giesing was the first collegian across the finish in fifth in a personal best 2:02.35, with Thomas seventh in 2:02.78, and Preigh eighth in a lifetime best 2:03.20.
With Gieseng's time, that puts Preigh at number 18 pending the outcome of other meets.
In the men's 800, West Seattle HS standout Cass Elliott finished second in a school record 1:46.76 behind Ryan Wilson of Division III MIT, as Wilson ran 1:46.61 to take the win.
The time move Elliott to number 9 on the NCAA D1 descending order list.
UPDATE (8:10 pm, Pacific): The numbers on the NCAA D1 descending order list for the UW runners were corrected after the Boston Last Chance meet was uploaded onto the TFRRS site. In the original post, we simply slotted the marks run onto the descending order list. Some other meets from around the country were not reported to the site until Sunday evening.
Upon their return to Seattle, the UW coaching staff will have to review who of their milers will actually contest the mile at the NCAAs. Both Lumb and Fay are inside the top 16 in the 3000, while Green is number 15 in the 800. Fay is the number 6 runner in the 5000, and there is the matter of selecting which four runners plus reserves are in the pool for the distance medley relay.
The meet's time schedule will influence who runs where, as the mile and 800 have semifinal races on Friday the 10th. In the case of both Fay and Lumb, the 3000 is on Saturday night, and with Fay, the 5000 is Friday night, 40 minutes before the distance medley relay.
The qualifiers for the NCAA indoor track & field championships will be announced on February 28 via press release that will be posted here.
PRO NOTES...
At the Maurie Plant Memorial meet in Melbourne on Thursday the 23rd, former Husky Sam Tanner finished second in the mile, running 3:53.83, behind Ollie Hoare's 3:52.24 in the first outdoor World Athletics Continental Gold tour event of the year.
For Tanner, that was an outdoor personal best. Results of the Maurie Plant meet are available here.
In Birmingham, United Kingdom Saturday, Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts finished fifth in the 1500 at the Birmingham World Indoor Tour finals.
Kerr ran 3:34.93, as Neil Gourley won in 3:32.48.
Kerr's Beasts teammate Marta Pen Freitas finished ninth in the 3000, as the Portuguese Olympian ran 8:47.07 in a race won by Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay in 8:16.69.
Pen Freitas will be entered in next weekend's European Indoor championships in Istanbul, Turkiye in the 1500 meters, while former Husky Jack Rowe of Great Britain is entered in the men's 3000.
NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington, Boston University, World Athletics, and European Athletics contributed to this report.
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