A busy Friday of track & field in Texas and Northern California...

It was indeed a busy Friday with six Washington Division I and II schools in action in Texas and Northern California, and here's the details:

TEXAS RELAYS

In Austin, Washington's Cass Elliott (Paul Merca photo), who entered the week as the nation's top collegiate 400 meter hurdler after his 50.26 mark in San Diego last week, finished third in the finals of the collegiate section of the 400 hurdles at the Texas Relays, hosted by the University of Texas.

Elliott, who ran a personal best 50.05 in Thursday's prelims, finished with a time of 50.28, as Alabama's Chris Robinson won in 49.10.

In the men's timed 100 meters, Washington State's Louie Hinchliffe ran a wind-aided 10.23 (+2.4) to finish fourth overall.

Hinchliffe, Mason Lawyer, Bode Brewer and John Parades placed fourth-overall as a team in men's 4x100 timed event with a time of 40.89.  

The Cougars' Elise Unruh-Thomas ran a wind aided 11.57 (+2.5) while placing seventh in the women's timed 100 meter finals. 

Results from the Texas Relays are available here.

BOBCAT INVITATIONAL

In San Marcos, Texas, the Cougars' Mackenzie Fletcher (1:00.47) and Jada Van Staden (1:01.33) highlighted the women 400-meter hurdles at the Texas State University Bobcat Invitational, as the duo took first and third overall, respectively. Fletcher won her heat and led start-to-finish, notching her second-consecutive win in the event to begin the outdoor season. 

 

Elise Unruh-Thomas notched a personal best time in the women's 200m at 23.73 (seventh-place) while teammate Jasneet Nijjar also hit a PR just fractions of a second slower at 23.99 (17th-place). 

Results of the Bobcat Invitational are available here.

STANFORD INVITATIONAL

In Stanford, California, a pair of Washington grad students made their Husky debuts, as Yale grad Kayley DeLay and Princeton grad Sam Ellis won the top section of the women's 3000 steeplechase and men's 1500 at the Stanford Invitational Friday hosted by Stanford University.

DeLay, who finished second at last year's NCAA championships, ran 9:48.44, a mark which so far this season is the fastest collegiate tine. 

Ellis finished with a 57.70 final 400 to win the top section of the mens 1500 in 3:40.81.

In the men's 3000 steeplechase, Walla Walla native Kenneth Rooks of BYU won in 8:33.60, the second fastest collegiate time so far this season. Washington grad student Ed Trippas, who competed for Princeton and was on Australia's Olympic and world championship teams the last two seasons, made his Husky debut, finishing fourth in 8:40.43.

The women's pole vault saw the Huskies' Nastassja Campbell win the event at 13-8.25/4.17m. Teammate Sara Borton was third on misses at the same height. Washington's Sarah Ferguson tied for fifth at 12-10.25/3.92m, while Asleigh Helms was eighth at the same height.

In the women's 100 hurdles final, Washington's Ida Eikeng was third at 13.63, while Central Washington's Lauryn Chandler was ninth at 14.13. Eikeng ran 13.59, while Chandler ran 14.04 earlier in the day to advance to the finals.

In an earlier section of the women's 3000 steeple, Western Washington's Ila Davis ran a personal-best time in winning the first heat in 10:21.10. Davis, who placed 13th at the NCAA Division II Championships in the event last season, looks primed for another trip to nationals after running the fourth fastest time in GNAC history.

At the time of posting, the men's and women's 10000 meter runs were being contested, with the last race projected to finish around 11 PM Pacific time. 

(UPDATE) In the women's 10000, contested after this report was posted,  Washington's Andrea Markezich finished 17th with a huge personal best of 32:50.16. Three places behind Markezich was Gonzaga's Kristen Garcia in 33:01.77, and Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State just behind Garcia at 33:02.36.

In another section of the women's 10000, Gonzaga's Caramia Mestler was 17th in 33:49/63, just in front of Washington's Naomi Smith at 33:50.48. That heat was won by former Husky Sarah Carter of Colorado State in 32:58.20.

The men's 10000 saw Gonzaga's Wil Smith finish 14th in 28:24.03, and teammate Yacine Guermali finish 29th in 29:55.07.

In the second section of the men's 10000, Washington's Leo Daschbach was 16th in 28:54.51, while Gonzaga's Bryce Cerkowniak was 31st in 29:35.06. The Zags' Riley Moore was 35th in 30:30.32.

Results of the Stanford Invitational are available here.

MIKE FANELLI INVITATIONAL

Up the road in San Francisco, Gonzaga's Sadie Tuckwood finished second overall in the women's 1500 meters to highlight competition at the Mike Fanelli Invitational hosted by San Francisco State University.

Tuckwood ran 4:28.58, a tine which is number five on the school's all time list.

In the men's 1500, Drew Weber of Western Washington finished in third in 3:50.14. 

The Vikings' Kevin McDermott finished fifth in the men's 5000 in 14:11.90. That mark is number two in school history, and the seventh fastest in GNAC conference history.

Results of the Mike Fanelli Invitational are available here.

NOTE: The sports information offices of Washington State, Washington, Texas, Texas State, Stanford, Western Washington, Gonzaga and San Francisco State contributed to this report.

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