It's put up or shut up time with two weeks to go before conference championships...
There are two weeks remaining in the regular season, so it's put up or shut up time for those athletes, especially those on the bubble.
One group of athletes who we know aren't on the bubble are the group of men and women from the University of Washington who are making the school's first appearance since 2009 at the prestigious Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
The Huskies are entered in the men's 4 x mile at 10:20 am, Seattle time, and the 4 x 800 at 12:06 pm Seattle time, while the women are entered in the 4 x 1500 (9:40 am Seattle time) and the 4 x 800 (11:56 am Seattle time). All four events will be contested Saturday, with Flotrack providing live streaming coverage.
In the few appearances that the Huskies have made at the Penn Relays, the Dawgs have never won a Relays wheel (photo courtesy Penn Relays), which is awarded to the winning team in the relay races, though Aretha Hill won an individual title in the discus in 1996.
In 2009, the Husky men's sprint medley relay team ran 3:18.81 with Joseph Turner, Kenjamine Jackson, Jordan Boase (46.5), Austin Abbott (1:49.7), and finished second.
The women's 4 x 1500 team that season finished third in 17:14.55 with Kailey Campbell (4:20.9), Katie Follett (4:16.9), Mel Lawrence (4:19.6) and Christine Babcock (4:17.2).
Ever since eight Huskies broke four minutes in the mile in late January at the UW Invitational, and repeated the feat in late February at the Last Chance meet at Boston University, there was speculation that this was the time to take a shot at winning a wheel and the watch for the four team members.
The UW foursome listed on the entry lists are NCAA champs Joe Waskom & Luke Houser, along with Sam Ellis and Nathan Green. All four placed in last year's NCAA 1500m finals in Eugene, and that quartet has a realistic shot at the world best of 15:49.08 by an Irish team that included Eamonn Coghlan, Marcus O'Sullivan, Frank O'Mara and Ray Flynn in 1985, representing an average of 3:57.3 per mile for each runner.
Note that all four Huskies on the entry list are American citizens. While the 4 x mile isn't recognized as a world record event (the 4 x 1500 meters is), should the Huskies break through, they would get recognition as holders of a world best by a group from the same country.
Their stiffest opposition will come from the multi-national team from Oklahoma State University, who beat the Huskies in the distance medley relay twice during the indoor season. The squad from Virginia and Georgetown could also challenge.
The same Husky foursome are entered in the 4 x 800. The Washington women's 4 x 1500 is composed of Chloe Foerster, Carley Thomas, Sophie O'Sullivan, and Kayley DeLay, while Marlena Preigh takes DeLay's spot in the 4 x 800.
The top teams in the 4 x 1500 are Oklahoma State with Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe, Notre Dame with Woodinville native Olivia Markezich, and New Mexico, while in the 4 x 800, Penn State is the team to watch.
Another group of Huskies are in Tucson, Arizona for the Desert Heat Classic Saturday night hosted by the University of Arizona.
That group is comprised of the 400 hurdle squad led by NCAA qualifier Cass Elliott, the defending Pac-12 champion, along with Jonathan Birchman and Matthew Wilkinson.
The Husky throws group, led by 2022 NCAA qualifiers Elijah Mason (discus), Jayden White (hammer), and Beatrice Asomaning (discus), look to improve upon their marks from this season.
Eastern Washington will have a small group of athletes in the field, led by horizontal jumper Bobby Say, and their always strong pole vault squad.
Most of Washington State's squad will be in Clovis for Friday and Saturday's Fresno State Invitational, along with the Washington vaulters, jumpers, and multi-event specialists.
Moving north, another group from WSU, Eastern Washington, SeattleU, Central Washington and Gonzaga will participate in Friday and Saturday's Oregon State High Performance meet in Corvallis, hosted by Oregon State University.
Three of the four Division II teams in the state of Washington will enter full squads in Saturday's Ralph Vernacchia Invitational in Bellingham, hosted by Western Washington University at Civic Stadium, while Central Washington will send a split squad, comprising of those not competing in Corvallis.
Finally, Washington State alum CJ Allen and Washington alum Gianna Woodruff are scheduled to compete in the invitational 400 hurdles Saturday at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Washington alum Katie Follett is scheduled to run in the invitational 1500, as is UW volunteer coach Sam Prakel, who won the USATF Road Mile title in Des Moines on Tuesday to kick off Drake Relays week.
NOTE: The media relations department of the Penn Relays, Drake Relays, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the University of Arizona contributed to this report.
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