Huskies move up in USTFCCCA indoor ranking index; Kerr opts to run at World Indoors...

The UW women's DMR squad of (L to R)
Carley Thomas, Anna Terrell, Chloe Foerster,
Marlena Preigh, and coach Maurica Powell
(photo courtesy UW Athletics)

NEW ORLEANS--Both University of Washington squads moved up in this week's USTFCCCA Division I National Track and Field Rating Index released Monday, with the Husky men moving back into the top five, and the women sitting at number 6.

Both teams were boosted up in the rankings with nation leading marks in the distance medley relay, with the men running an American record time of 9:18.81 in Fayetteville at the Arkansas Qualifier. The Washington men's time in Arkansas held up as the national leader for a day, as both Northern Arizona (9:17.43) and North Carolina (9:17.92) ran faster on Saturday at the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame.

The Husky women's team broke their own school record of 10:46.62 in Boston at the BU Terrier DMR Challenge when they ran 10:43.39.

While both Husky squads also had a few athletes in individual events, none of them ran marks in the top ten.

The nation's top five men's teams are in order: Northern Arizona, Texas Tech, Arkansas, USC and the Huskies.

Other Pac-12 men's teams in the national top 25 include number 18 Stanford and number 20 Arizona State.

The top five women's teams this week are in order: Arkansas, Florida, USC, Oregon, and Texas Tech.

Stanford at number 20 is the only other Pac-12 women's team in the national top 25.

Washington closes out the regular season with the Ken Shannon Invitational Friday and Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor Facility in Seattle.

The USTFCCCA men's release is available here, while the women's release is here.

JOSH KERR CHANGES MIND, WILL RUN THE 3000 AT WORLD INDOORS...

After insisting for most of the indoor season that he wasn't going to compete at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, Josh Kerr (photo courtesy Brooks Running) of the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts has had a change of heart.

In a release from British Athletics Monday, the federation named Kerr, the current world indoor best holder at two miles at 8:00.67 set at the Millrose Games on February 11th, to its team.

Kerr is a native of Edinburgh, which is close to 50 miles away from Glasgow.

Kerr and the rest of the Brooks Beasts are currently in Albuquerque, New Mexico for their annual mid-winter training stint at high altitude.

SEATTLEU IN ALBUQUERQUE FOR WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS...

The Seattle University men's and women's track teams are in Albuquerque for the Western Athletic Conference championship meet Monday and Tuesday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The Redhawks look to improve from their ninth place (10 points) men's finish and 11th place (6 points) women's finish from last year's meet in Spokane.

Sprinter Miguel Rosario is the only SeattleU athlete ranked in the conference top five in any individual event. Rosario is ranked second in the men's 60 meter dash.

The link to live results are available here. ESPN Plus ($) is live streaming the WAC championships.

SeattleU's release is available here.

NOTE: The USTFCCCA, British Athletics, Brooks Running, and the sports information offices of the University of Washington and Seattle University contributed to this report.

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