Wanda Diamond League action returns Thursday as Allen, Kerr & Akins race in Zürich...
One event has been contested already, as Budapest co-champion Nina Kennedy of Australia (Paul Merca photo) defeated fellow co-champ and former Pullman resident Katie Moon in the women's pole vault at the Zürich Haufbahnhof train station Wednesday afternoon, clearing a world leading 16-1.25 (4.91m).
That winning clearance gave Kennedy a new Australian national record and Oceania area record, and took over sole possession of the world lead in 2023 after sharing it with Moon after the world championships.
After tying Kennedy for the lead at the previous height of 15-9.5 (4.81m), Moon missed on her first attempt at 16-1.25 (4.91m), then opted to pass after Kennedy made what ultimately was the winning height.
When the bar was raised to 16-3.25 (4.96m), Moon missed all two remaining attempts, and Kennedy missed all three, giving Kennedy the win.
In the main portion of the meet, which will be held at Stadion Letzigrund on Thursday, Washington State alum CJ Allen, the Wanda Diamond League leader, will run the 400 hurdles in an attempt to make up for missing the finals in the world championships.
He'll face five of the top six finishers from Budapest, including winner Karsten Warholm of Norway and Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands.
World champion Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts and this year's revelation, Narve Gilje Nordås of Norway, the third place finisher in the 1500 in Budapest, lead the field in the men's 1500 in Zürich.
Former Husky Sam Tanner, who was eliminated in the semis at world championships, is also in the field.
In a race that is missing all three medalists from Budapest--Mary Moraa from Kenya, Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain, and Athing Mu of Team USATF, Nia Akins of the Brooks Beasts looks to make an impact and possibly find herself in the Diamond League finals in Eugene.
Akins and Raevyn Rogers of the Portland based Nike Union Athletics Club are the two highest finishers from Budapest in the field, with Rogers finishing fourth and Akins sixth in the 800 finals last Sunday.
Peacock ($) will have live coverage of the Weltklasse Meeting in Zürich starting at 11 am Pacific.
CROSS COUNTRY PRE-SEASON RANKINGS RELEASED...
Hard to believe, but this weekend marks the start of the 2023 collegiate cross country season.
The USTFCCCA released its pre-season rankings Wednesday, and the Washington women's team is ranked number 15 in the Division I poll, while the men's team is ranked number in the poll.
Gonzaga is ranked number 30 in the men's national poll.
The top five Division I women's teams are in order: North Carolina State, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, and Colorado.
In the final season of the current Pac-12 with Washington, Oregon, USC & UCLA headed to the Big 10, and Arizona, Arizona State, Utah & Colorado to the Big 12 after the 2023-24 academic year, other Pac-12 schools in the women's pre-season top 30 include number 8 Stanford, number 10 Oregon, number 20 Oregon State, and number 22 Utah.
The nation's top 5 teams, as voted by the coaches in the pre-season poll are in order: Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, BYU, Stanford, and Wisconsin.
Other Pac-12 schools in the national top 30 include number 7 Colorado, and number 15 Oregon.
With BYU now out of the West Coast Conference and into the Big 12, the only nationally ranked team besides the Zags is Portland at number 9.
Gonzaga opens its season at the Clash of the Inland Northwest meet in Cheney Friday September 1st, hosted by Eastern Washington on the EWU campus athletic fields.
In Division II, defending GNAC champion Western Washington is the only Washington school ranked, as the Vikings begin the season ranked number 10 in the men's pre-season poll, as Ben Stensland takes over the helm after Pee Wee Halsell retired after the 2022 cross country season.
Defending champ Colorado School of Mines, Adams State, Wingate, Grand Valley State, and Chico State are the men's top five in Division II.
Simon Fraser is the only other men's squad from GNAC ranked in the top 30 at number 27.
No Washington or GNAC schools are ranked in the top 30 in the women's pre-season poll.
Adams State, Grand Valley State, Colorado School of Mines, UC-Colorado Springs, and Winona State are the nation's top five women's teams in the pre-season poll.
Western Washington opens its season along with Seattle Pacific and Central Washington this Saturday at the Puget Sound Invitational at Ft. Steilacoom Park in Lakewood, with the men opening at 11 am, and the women at 11:30 am over a 5k course.
NOTE: World Athletics, the Weltklasse Meeting in Zürich, and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.
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